It's a Wonderfox Life
by BeecroftA
Summary: While going through a crisis in his life, Nick uses the P.I.X.A.R machine and sees what Zootopia would be like if he had never been born. Set within the continuity of Cimar's What If…? Collaboration story! Cover art by pyocolaxsama, rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1: The Past

_**A/N: Here it is folks, a story I've wanted to do ever since I got into writing fanfiction. And thanks to Cimar of Turalis-WildeHopps and his wonderful P.I.X.A.R. machine concept, this was the perfect way to do it. And of course credit as well to Frank Capra for creating It's a Wonderful Life, my favourite movie of all time. Zootopia, of course, belongs to Disney. And now, let us begin Nick's journey of self-discovery…**_

* * *

 _ **Zootopia, December Twenty-Third:**_

* * *

No place in Zootopia looked more beautiful than Tundratown around the Christmas season. Every tree was decorated, every lamppost was dressed, and carolers of all sizes and species sang throughout the streets. It was also the district's busiest time of the year for mammals from over the city would flock to it to do their Christmas shopping, as if on some level trying to relive the days when the climate was not controlled and Christmas time meant snow for everybody. And Nick and Judy WildeHopps and their two children were no exception.

The family was out on Flurry Street now, Nick struggling under a load of wrapped packages and Ridley and Ella running around his legs, with Judy doing her best to keep the two excited five year-olds in line.

"Is all this stuff really necessary, Carrots?" Nick asked his wife.

"Of course!" stated Judy as she pulled Ridley off the street and back on the curb. "We have so many friends, I wanted to make sure everybody gets something this year."

"You know we could have just ordered all this stuff online, right?" Nick asked as he stepped over a mouse couple, nearly making him drop his packages.

"Yes, but shopping in person is _so_ much more fun! _"_

" _Tell that to my back,"_ Nick moaned under his breath. Judy stopped the group and consulted her list. "Okay…we've shopped for your mom, my folks, Fru-Fru, little Ju-Ju… Ah! Gotta get Finnick's present."

"You know Finnick really doesn't care if you give him a present or not, right?" Nick said with a small roll of his eyes as the rabbit steered him and the kits towards the bank.

"Aw, but he's like one of the family!" replied Judy, "And after the babysitting he's done for us, a present is the least we can do," she approached the ATM and stuck her card in.

"I take it you're giving him the usual?" Nick asked with no degree of uncertainty.

Judy shrugged. "Every year I ask him what he wants, and every year he says the same thing," a small wad of bills popped out of the machine, "Cash."

"Reeeal holiday spirit there," muttered Nick.

"Look Momma! Look! Toys!" Ridley called out while starting to wander towards a shop across the street.

"Ha ha, Ridley, come back!" teased Judy as she went and caught the fox kit, leaving Nick alone to pull the bills and card out of the ATM while still holding his packages.

"OY! _YOU!"_

Nick, Judy and Ridley and Ella all whipped around. Striding towards the family was a middle-aged badger wearing an old grey suit and a grizzled snarl on his face. "Knew I'd run into you sooner or later, _Wilde_ ," the badger spat as he stopped in front of Nick, his eyes locked onto Nick's own.

"Uhhh… wait, I know you. Brock Blackwood, right?" Nick asked. "What's it been – ten, eleven years?"

" _Twelve,"_ Brock the badger retorted, "And I still haven't forgotten what you did."

"Judy," Nick said suddenly, "Would you and the kids please go into the toy store? I'll join you in a minute."

Judy snapped to attention. If Nick was using her real name this had to be serious, and he clearly didn't want anything to happen in front of Ridley and Ella.

"Yes… of course. Come on kids," and Judy took the fox and bunny kits by the paw and started leading them across the street.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Ella called out to her father, sounding scared.

"Don't worry Sweetie, everything's fine!" Nick called back, "Mister Blackwood and I just have to talk for a minute."

As Judy led the kids across the street, her keen bunny ears overheard their conversation:

"What I _did?_ I seem to recall I beat you fair and square," she heard Nick state.

"That's not how _I_ remember it," growled the cantankerous mustelid.

"You were the one who was cheating!"

And that was all Judy heard before she steered the kids into the Red Balloon toy shop and shut the door behind them.

"What did he mean?" Ella asked. "What did Daddy do?"

"Oh, whatever that badger was talking about, I am sure it's just a simple misunderstanding," Judy answered, trying to sound as calm as possible. She gently steered the kids away from the window, "Come on, let's browse for a few minutes, huh? Ella, see if you can find that toy fire engine you want!"

While the kids started browsing through the small but quaint toy store Judy watched across the street through the window as Nick and the badger stood at the ATM exchanging words for a couple of minutes. And then to her shock Blackwood punched Nick in the jaw, sending the fox toppling against the machine and making drop his packages in the snow. Then the badger snatched the cash Nick was holding in his paw and left.

"Nick! NICK!" Grabbing the kids again Judy ran out of the store and back up to her mate, who was sitting in the snow and rubbing his hurt jaw. Her head jerked towards the end of the street where she saw Blackwood disappear around the corner. Judy grabbed at Nick's free paw, "Come on, we can catch him-"

"No," was Nick's response. Judy looked at Nick, still slumped in the snow, holding her paw in place. "No, it's okay. Let him go."

"Who was that, Daddy?" Ella asked, the little rabbit's voice filled with concern.

"Oh, just someone I used to know," Nick replied with a collected calmness Judy could see through.

"Are you hurt?"

"Aw, nothing can hurt Dad!" Ridley interjected, "Bet you gave the one-two and scared him off, right Dad?" the fox kit punched at the air with little fists.

"That's right, son," answered Nick with a chuckle. He started to gather up his packages from the snow. "C'mon, who's up for going to the mall? Maybe you can go see Santa Claws!"

But as Nick collected his parcels, Judy noticed he was doing his best to ensure the kits were only seeing the right side of his face, for there was swelling already forming on the left side of his jaw.

* * *

Nick and Judy didn't speak about the incident again until the family got home and Judy had put on _a Charlie Bun Christmas_ for the kits to watch. Once she was sure the two five year olds were safely engrossed in the movie she took Nick by the paw and led him to the kitchen table where they sat down, Nick now holding an ice pack over his aching jaw.

"Nick…" Judy said, staring hard into her husband's eyes, "Who _was_ that badger? Should we be worried about him?"

"I don't think so, Carrots," Nick replied. "His name is Brock Blackwood, and about a dozen years ago, during a less savory period in my life, I hustled some money out of him."

Judy leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "And what did you do?" she asked sternly.

"Actually, I beat him in a poker game," Nick replied with a slight smirk.

There a momentary pause. "That's it?" Judy asked skeptically, "He punched you because you beat him at cards?"

"Well, obviously it's more complicated than that," Nick replied, "You see, one day after a particularly good day on the *cough* job, I decided to try doubling my take at this casino in Tundratown. I mean, you know my poker skills, Fluff- I know the math, the tells, all the tricks. Anyway, I looked around, picked this table, and asked to join in. Blackwood was sitting there with what I assume were friends of his."

Nick paused a second to readjust his ice pack, and continued: "Much to my surprise, he let me in right away. Being a fox and all I figured I'd have to turn on the charm to get in a game. But as we played I noticed – the cards kept coming his way, and he kept winning games that by my calculations he shouldn't have won. Then after one really good round he high-fived someone and I saw it – he had a card holder up his sleeve."

Judy instinctively balled up her feet on the floor, sensing this was where things got interesting. "Now naturally I considered calling him out on the spot," Nick continued, "But instead I decided to use that little tidbit to my advantage. So the next time I got good cards I went all in and – pretending to be desperate to win my money back, threw the key to my car on the table. Actually it really was just a key, but you get the idea. Anyway, he agreed to the bet, and we made a gentlemammal's agreement and shook paws, and with a little sleight of paw I oh-so-gently liberated the cards from his sleeve."

"Like in _Lone Wolf: a Fur Wars Story_?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, just like that. And boy do I wish I could have photographed the look on his face when he realized the cards were gone. Needless to say, he lost."

"And then what?"

"I think you can guess he didn't take it gracefully – he called me a cheater and tried to snatch up the pot, I respectfully protested, and it turned into a one-way shouting match where he was heaving _colorful_ words describing foxes at me until the polar bear bouncer came over and broke it up, and I got him to make Blackwood pay out in exchange for a cut. Then I left the casino and I haven't seen that belligerent badger since."

Judy was almost dumbfounded. "That's it?" she asked, "The way he acted I was expecting some elaborate con where you cost him his life's savings, and all you did was out-cheat him?"

Nick looked a little ashamed. "Well, I may or may not have also made a few jabs of my own right in front of his friends. I daresay he was plenty humiliated."

"And he's really been holding a grudge for that long?"

"Yeah… some mammals are like that," Nick said with a sigh. "So I let have him the hundred bucks I was holding, and with any luck he'll consider us even now."

"Well, I don't think you're even!" Judy snarled, "We ought to track him down, file charges, he can't assault an officer, let alone my MATE!"

" _No!"_ Nick countered, "No, I don't want to file charges, I want this thing done with. I'm just sorry you and the kids had to see it."

Nick sighed, his ears starting to droop. "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, Fluff. You know that. He may not have been a good guy, but he deserved to be angry."

"Maybe, but NOT in front of our kids!" Judy growled, "I respect his feelings, but if he's going to try and hurt my family, he's in for his own world of hurt!"

"I have no doubt at all," Nick replied with a slight smile. Then he looked over at the couch, where the kids were glued to the TV watching their Christmas special. "Carrots…" he muttered, "What am I going to tell them? I mean, you know what I was, you understand, somehow in spite of it you even fell in love with me. But someday, the kids are going to have to find out I used to be a hustler, a no-good confox, and then what? How do I explain it to them? How can I look them in the eye and tell them that's not who I am anymore?"

Judy put her paw on his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she said, "Together. And in the meantime, you just keep on doing what you're doing, because frankly, I don't think you need to worry about being a good role model. I think you already are one."

Nick smiled appreciatively at her, and she gave him a warm smile back, followed by a kiss.

* * *

And the couple didn't think about Blackwood again until they were returning to the precinct at the end of their shift the next day:

"Uh, Nick?" Clawhauser called from his desk as the couple went by. "Hey Nick, have you seen this?"

"What is it, Benji?" Nick asked as he and Judy walked up. "If this is about Gazelle's latest album, you know you've got the wrong WildeHopps."

"No, it's…" then Clawhauser stopped and chewed on his lip, looking both scared and lost for words, which was a rarity for the chubby cheetah.

"Uh, Benji? You're starting to scare me," said Nick.

Finally Clawhauser passed his phone to Nick, "This came out this morning, I only just saw it."

Nick looked at the phone, and what was on the screen made his eyes widen and his jaw almost drop with shock.

It was on Critter, and the tweet that filled the screen had a picture of a _very_ familiar badger attached to it, along with a message that made Nick's stomach give an unpleasant lurch:

 _Saw Officer Wilde downtown yesterday – years ago that shifty lowlife fox robbed me and now they've made him a cop. WHAT HAS THIS CITY COME TO!? #ZPD #DirtyFoxCop_

" _Blackwood…"_ Nick growled.

Judy scanned the screen, and gasped. _"_ That-that _-SACK OF ROTTEN CARROTS!"_ she cried. If the whole situation wasn't so dire Nick would have burst out laughing.

"Wait, you do know this creep?" Clawhauser asked nervously.

"Yeah, Nick beat him at poker over a decade ago, and now he's trying to get revenge," Judy stated. She frowned at the cheetah, "Wait, you don't actually believe Nick robbed him, do you?"

"No! No, of course not!" Clawhauser exclaimed.

But Nick wasn't listening – he was too busy reading the comments attached to the tweet, which had already gained over six hundred likes and retweets:

 _Always knew he was no good – if the ZPD had any integrity they'd fire him RIGHT NOW. #DirtyFoxCop_

 _What did you expect? All foxes are shifty lowlifes! #DirtyFoxCop_

 _FINALLY SOMEONE SPEAKS OUT. #DirtyFoxCop_

 _If "Officer" Wilde had any decency he'd-_

Nick couldn't read anymore. He half-passed, half-threw the phone back at the cheetah and stormed off. "Nick, wait!" Clawhauser and Judy both called. When Nick didn't stop Judy ran up and stopped him. "Nick, this isn't so bad-"

"Not so bad?" Nick huffed, "Six hundred-plus likes and retweets isn't so bad?"

"He _trolling you_ , Nick! Every officer gets tweets like that!"

"You think that's just trolling? He's accusing me of a _crime_ , Carrots! I'm surprised chief Buffalo-Butt isn't chewing my head off already!"

Just then, a ping rang from Nick's pocket, signalling a text message. Nick pulled out his phone and smirked at the screen. "Well, speak of the devil. Complete with horns."

And a minute later the couple were sitting on oversized chairs in front of Chief Bogo's desk, and the Cape buffalo was regarding them with a glare that was nothing short of an upgrade from the one they normally received. Bogo placed his iPad on the desk and slid it forward; Nick and Judy could clearly see Blackwood's tweet on the screen. "Explain," said the chief.

Judy started. "Nick's innocent, sir, he didn't do it-"

"I wasn't talking to you, Hopps, I was talking to _him,"_ Bogo pointed towards Nick, and directed his glare at him: "Wilde, as a formality I must ask- did you rob Brock Blackwood, as he claims you did?"

"Formality?" Judy's ears gave a little perk. "Chief, you mean you don't believe Nick did it?"

The chief gave her an annoyed snort. "No, I don't. If this were a true accusation he would have come to the police or consulted a lawyer, and I have had no such calls before or since this tweet came out," he turned back to Nick. "But Wilde, I must ask _you_ : did you rob Brock Blackwood?"

Nick's tone was firm and to the point. "No."

Bogo gave a sigh of relief, but his expression remained serious. "Then why might he post something like this? Does he bear some grudge against you?"

"Yeah," Nick replied, "I won a few hundred bucks from him in a game of poker, a couple years before I became a cop, and apparently he's been mad about it ever since."

"I see," said Bogo without a change in expression. "Unfortunately it is his word against yours, and as of now neither side has any proof."

"Of course there isn't – that was _twelve years ago,_ " Nick said exasperatedly. "I barely even remembered it until Blackwood _forcibly_ reminded me. Never knew a guy could hold a grudge that long."

"And why would he?" asked Bogo, "Was it a significant amount you 'won' from him?"

Nick rankled at the way Bogo used the word 'won'. "I… did cheat," he admitted, "But only because he was cheating first. And I guess I did embarrass him in front of his "friends"," Nick made a quotation mark gesture, "But I swear, Chief, I did nothing criminal. And I _certainly_ didn't rob him."

"Why don't we bring him and question him?" Judy interjected, "Then if there are any holes in his story we can charge him with slander."

"That won't work," Nick contradicted. "He'll have a full story all made out, and there'll be enough truth in it he could drag this out for ages. And it won't erase that tweet from anyone's memories – I'll bet anything by tomorrow there will be others coming forward too."

"Others…?" Bogo asked with trepidation, "Now why would there be 'others'?"

Nick gave a sigh, and slumped in his seat. "Chief, you know I wasn't a criminal before I became a cop, but I still knew some bad mammals and I made my share of enemies. Besides, I'm still a fox – folks can accuse me of anything and everyone will believe it."

Bogo nodded, and sat back in his chair for almost a full minute, looking deep in thought. Finally, with what sounded like trepidation in his voice he spoke: "I believe in your innocence, Wilde, but I am afraid that, under the circumstances, I still must suspend you."

Nick and Judy both gasped.

" _Suspended…?"_ Judy repeated in horror.

"With pay," Bogo amended.

"Chief, _no!_ You said you believed Nick!"

"Yes, and I do. But this is out of my hooves now. Internal affairs will be making an inquiry, the ZPD must make a statement, and we must show we do not condone those actions you are accused of, true or not. And of course, the media is going to have a field day with this, and on the day before Christmas…"

The Cape buffalo gave a shudder, and opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out an orange prescription bottle. "My blood pressure…" he moaned as he shakily uncapped the bottle and popped two large white pills in his mouth. "Hopps, take him home. And if you can think of any evidence to be found, then by all means pursue it."

"But sir-"

" _GO!"_ roared Bogo.

And Nick and Judy left immediately. They had been ordered out of Chief Bogo's office many times before, but never once had they heard him sound so upset instead of angry.

* * *

"Come on Nick, _think!_ " Judy urged Nick while they were in the car driving home. "There's gotta be something that can clear your name on this! Do you remember anyone else who was playing? Do you remember what casino that was? Maybe there'll be old security camera footage, or-"

"It won't work, Carrots," Nick interrupted.

"I know, I know you think he has a story made up, but if we can find just a bit of evidence-"

"Don't you GET it!?" Nick snapped, "I'm a _fox!_ Do you think anyone besides you, my mother and our friends are going to believe in me? Look at this!" He shoved his phone into Judy's face, showing her the comments on Blackwood's Critter feed. "Already half the city's made up its mind about me, and the rest won't be far behind! And just you wait, this is only the beginning. There'll be an investigation. And not that little background check they did when I joined the ZPD, a real one with real investigators. Every con, every hustle I ever pulled years ago, it's all going to come out. And even if we find some way to discredit Blackwood, others like him will be coming out of the woodwork, I guarantee it."

Judy said nothing for a second, and then she pulled over to the curb and shut off the car motor, glaring at her mate. "So what? You're just going to give up? That's it?"

Nick lifted up his paws and let them drop into his lap. "What else is there to do? If you and your never-know-when-to-quit attitude want to waste your time chasing rainbows, go ahead. But my eyes are wide open. There's no escaping the past."

"Of course you can, Nick!" Judy countered, "You're better than your past! Look at all you've done since you became a cop! And before, when we solved the missing mammals case together!"

"Yeah, and I'll bet if I wasn't there, you would have still solved that on your own," Nick responded glumly. "And everything I've done as a cop, I'm sure you or some other officer would have done just as well."

Judy slammed her paws on the steering wheel in frustration. "If you want to give up, fine! But I know you, and I know you didn't do this. And if you're going to be too thick-headed to try and save yourself because some wannabe internet troll called you a shifty lowlife-"

Nick couldn't take anymore. In a flash he unbuckled his seatbelt, threw open the door and jumped out of the car.

"Nick! Nick, wait!" Judy cried.

Nick poked his head back into the car, glaring into his wife's face. "You know… you once called me a shifty lowlife too."

And then he slammed the door with more force than he'd intended and trudged away.

" _Nick! Come back!"_ Judy yelled as she got out of the car. But her mate was gone – vanished into the crowded street. Like Batmammal, Nick was good at disappearing when he wanted to. After a minute of scanning around and swearing under her breath Judy got back in the car, slamming the door behind her. She sighed in exasperation and thumped her head against the steering wheel, and then gave a jolt as the horn went off in her face. She took deep breaths for a few seconds, and then her jaw stiffened in determination. Nick may have hustled Blackwood years ago, but what that badger had said on Critter was a complete and total lie, and she was going to prove her mate's innocence. But first, she had to make a call. She dug out her phone and dialled Nick's mother.

"Hello, Ellaine, it's Judy."

" _Judy! Oh my gosh, I was just reading about that thing on Critter! Is Nicky there?"_

"No he isn't, and you can bet anything he's turned off his phone by now," Judy replied. "He's in a bad place right now but listen: that thing on Critter is a lie and I'm going to prove it, but I need your help. Can you watch Ridley and Ella tonight?"

" _Of course, as late as you need!"_

"Thanks! Try to keep it casual, with any luck they'll never have to find out about this. Read them _The Grizz that Stole Christmas_ , they love that!"

" _Will do Judy, and thank you!"_

"Bye Ellaine." And Judy hung up. And then her violet eyes narrowed, and the rabbit officer started the car with a loud roar and zoomed down the street.

* * *

Nick wandered around Downtown and Savannah Central for hours, stewing in frustration and bitterness. For the since time he became a cop, he truly felt like all his efforts to turn his life around had been for naught. No matter what he did, he would never be able to escape the fact that he was a _fox_ , a species still reviled and mistrusted by most of the city, who had done things that only further vindicated that prejudice. Despite the coldness of the evening, all he wanted to do was keep walking and never stop. The trouble was this quarter of the city was only so big, and before long Nick found himself gravitating towards some familiar landmarks: his mother's street, the Ottertons' florist shop, Finnick's van, and even the 10-7 first responder's bar. He considered dropping in at the bar to drown his sorrows, but quickly changed his mind. If Trisha Rose's bubbly personality wasn't already the last thing he was in the mood for, chances were good the bunny barmaid would alert Judy the minute he walked in. So he pressed on, and eventually found himself in front of a building with a multi-striped awning and a neon sign that read FITWICK'S ARCADE. Perfect, Nick thought. Just the place to get away from it all. It was after hours so the arcade was closed and the blinds in the windows were drawn, but through a crack in the blinds Nick could see Mr. Fitwick inside, dressed in old clothes and polishing the machines. He knew from past experience the panther wouldn't mind him dropping in, and rapped his knuckles on the glass door.

A few seconds later, a gap accompanied by Fitwick's eye appeared in the blinds in the door. Spotting Nick, the panther unlocked the door and opened it. "Officer Wilde?" the feline inquired.

"Evening, Fitwick," Nick greeted colorlessly as he let himself in without asking permission.

"Uh… evening. Where's - where's Officer Hopps?" Fitwick asked, unsettled by Nick's demeanor.

"We're having problems," Nick flatly stated. "No, I… I'm having problems, and I need to get away for a while. This seemed the best place for that," Without elaborating further Nick strode over to the Prototype Inhibitor of Experimental Alternate Reality (P.I.X.A.R) machine and slumped into one of its conjoined armchairs. "You mind if I use this while you work? I could use a vacation from reality right about now."

"No… no, not at all," Fitwick walked up to Nick, turned a key to unlock the machine, and booted up its computer. "So Officer Hopps doesn't know you're here?"

"No, and if it's alright with you, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her I was here," Nick replied, "She'd just try to comfort me, tell me it's alright, or maybe just yell at me for walking out, and I'm not in the mood for any of that."

"Sure, client confidentiality is part of the job," said Fitwick, his finger flicking across the screen, scrolling through a list of possible scenarios for Nick. "Er, what simulation would you like?"

"I don't care!" Nick snapped. He grabbed the nearest VR helmet and slammed it on his head with great force. "Just - just put me somewhere that I don't exist!"

"Somewhere you don't exist! What…" Then Fitwick stopped, and suddenly appeared very thoughtful. "You know… I think I have just the scenario. It's actually quite popular this time of year."

"Well, good! Fire away then!" Nick ordered.

Almost smiling now, Fitwick entered the final code and settings and hit the START button. The screen in Nick's visor lit up, and he felt his world begin to dissolve away as the familiar swirl of colors overtook him and hypnotized him into a deep sleep…

* * *

Nick stood there on that familiar old stone bridge, gazing out at the small glimpse of the city his location afforded him. He had spent much time here over the years, sunbathing and mulling over the facts of life; he had even lived under the bridge for a brief period of time. And on that fateful day, when Judy had finally come back to him and they had gone on to solve the nighthowler conspiracy together, it had been here.

An old abandoned factory and adjoining warehouse stood behind him, vacant since sometime just after the last world war, and the remains of a dried-up riverbed still showed in the ground, a river that had once been prosperous but since been diverted in the name of 'progress'. This was a place of ancient history, just like his days as a police officer would soon become.

The cold of the winter night air made Nick shiver; he was truly at the end of his rope now, he could see no way out. His career was over, his new life in ashes. He couldn't even claim innocence of the crime he was accused of; who would ever believe the word of a fox over any other mammal? An accusation was as good as a conviction, and there was enough truth in Blackwood's story to muddy the waters in Nick's case for years. He had so tried to be an upstanding fox, be a good father and the good mammal his mother and Judy both wanted, and to improve quality of life for all other members of his species across Zootopia. But now in the end, his past had won out. It had reached up and was dragging him back down, and if he wasn't careful Judy's career and the honor of the ZPD could go down with him.

As he stared out at the city that would soon hate him, Nick weighed his options. He could fight back, try to clear himself, but the whole thing happened so long ago he doubted there was any evidence that would do that. He could take the heat, deny the charges when they came and only receive dismissal from the force, but then he would never work again, most of his friends and members of Judy's family would likely ostracize him, and his children would grow up thinking their daddy was a dirty cop. His thoughts then took a darker turn. Maybe he could just end it, right here, and then his life insurance would take care of his family and he'd be in sweet oblivion away from it all. But that would only hurt them further, and vindicate Blackwood to boot. Besides, how could he do it here? There was no river beneath for him to jump into.

Depressed thoughts kept turning in Nick's head, going around in circles. He had been through many rough patches in his life before, but never had he come so close to actually wishing he had never been born at all. He actually smirked a little as he chewed on that hypothetical scenario. If he had never been born, probably nobody would be worse off. Finnick would be fine for sure, he was a good enough hustler to get by without Nick's ideas in the old days. His mother wouldn't have had to raise him, and so maybe she wouldn't have been so poor all those years ago. Bogo's blood pressure would certainly be better off. And Judy… Nick was confident she would still have solved the missing mammals case without him. Then she would still have a successful career, and maybe have found a suitable buck husband without a criminal past who could give her more kits than Nick ever could. Nick wanted Judy to be happy, but the idea of her with someone else was still the most depressing thought of all.

He looked up to the sky, gazing at the stars. One in particular twinkled brighter and clearer than all the others; it reminded him of the wishing star from _Pawnocchio_ that he had watched with Ridley and Ella recently. A childish idea suddenly came to him. After glancing around to make there was no one around he put his paws together and began to whisper: "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight…"

He looked around once more, feeling as foolish as depressed, and then finished:

"I wish I could see what the world would be like if I had never been born."

There, he had done it, he had said it out loud. And as he expected, nothing happened. Ten empty seconds went by. But then-

A loud burst of thunder suddenly rumbled in the sky, and a huge _whoosh_ of frigid wind came out of nowhere and barreled into Nick, making the fox double over. Nick screwed his eyes shut against the wind, his fangs chattering with cold and his scarf flapping everywhere, and then the gale stopped, ending as quickly as it had begun. Nick kneeled there shivering for a few seconds, trying to warm himself before opening his eyes. And that was when he saw a pair of spotted feline feet standing right in front of him, and a familiar yellow paw reaching out to help him up. Nick looked up, and his jaw dropped. _"Benji?"_

"Hey Nick," Benjamin Clawhauser greeted him.

* * *

 **A/N: Trisha Rose and the 10-7 bar belong to Bluelighthouse.**


	2. Chapter 2: Never Born

"What are you doing here? _"_ Nick asked Clawhauser as the chubby cheetah helped him to his feet. _And how the heck did you get so close without me hearing you_ he wondered in his head _._ But as he looked more closely at Clawhauser Nick did a double take. Benji looked different. He looked younger, like around the age he was when Nick had first met him. He was wearing his usual police uniform, but it looked distinctly baggy on him, as if he had lost some weight. His eyes had a worn and tired look to them that Nick had never seen before. And most ominous of all, he was wearing some kind of collar with a black box with a green pulsating light around his neck, not unlike that of an ankle bracelet used for house arrest inmates. Nevertheless, there was still a hint of the cheetah's familiar cheeriness about his face.

"I've been sent here for you, Nick!" Clawhauser stated.

"Oh, Carrots asked you to bring me home?"

"No, no, I'm here as part of your wish!"

"Uh-" That was _not_ the answer Nick had expected. "What - what wish?"

"The one you just made! You wished upon a wishing star, and now it's come true!" Clawhauser spread his arms out, "As of now, you have never been born!"

Nick didn't know which was stronger: his confusion at Clawhauser's words, or his embarrassment that someone had actually heard him wishing upon a star. "Uh-huh, and if I was never born, then what am I doing here? And more importantly, what are _you_ doing here? Please don't tell you're the blue fairy."

"Oh no, me being here is another part of the wish! Since you wanted to see what the world would be like without you, I've been sent here as your guide! _No-o-one_ can see me but you!" he gestured dramatically.

"Wish. Right. _Suuure…"_ Nick rolled his eyes. This situation had started out confusing enough, but now it was just getting ridiculous. Might as well see where this is going, he thought. "And let me guess: the city is now a miserable place and children are starving and everyone I care about is suffering because I haven't been around?"

"Yeah! That's it!" Clawhauser declared. "Well, the children starving part might be a little much, but I'm sure that's happening somewhere."

Nick looked around; nothing whatsoever in the vicinity seemed different. Same old bridge, same abandoned factory, same dry-as-a-bone riverbed. "Looks okay to me," he deadpanned.

Clawhauser shook his head. "Of course it's okay _here_ , but wait 'til we get back to the city! It's the worst place you can imagine – you'll never believe your eyes!"

"I'm sure I won't." Nick scanned around again, and spied a seemingly innocuous bush nearby. "Alright, Carrots! Joke's over, come on out!"

But there was no answer. He strode over to the bush. "Carrots? Nice hustle, Sweetheart! Not quite your best, but I give it a solid B!"

He searched the bush, but there was no rabbit behind or in it. He strode back up to Clawhauser. "Okay, so you weren't eavesdropping with rabbit ears. What did you use, a parabolic mike? Oh, and before I forget, great job with that popping out of thin air trick! Throw in a little dry ice smoke and you could have performed at the Palm Hotel!"

Now Clawhauser was the one who looked confused. "Huh?"

Nick smiled. "C'mon, admit it: Carrots put you up to this, didn't she?"

"Judy? Why do you say that?"

"Hey, I know my wife, and I know her crazy need to cheer mammals up at all costs! You being here trying to convince me the world would be worse off without me is just the kind of half-baked scheme she would cook up to try and help me take my mind off my troubles!"

"No, I'm telling-"

"What has she got _,_ some stage set up in the 10-7 or something where everyone gets up and starts acting out their tales of woe? Actually, that sounds quite sweet– are there costumes?"

"No!" Clawhauser was starting to sound a little exasperated. "I'm swear, Nick, it's true! So many bad things have happened in Zootopia because you were never there!"

He reached out his paw to Nick, "Come on, I'll show you."

Nick seriously considered going along with it for a while longer. "Uhh, no thanks," he decided, pushing Clawhauser's paw away. "Look, I really appreciate you and Carrots' effort, and someday I really wanna know how you set up that crazy windstorm and that wonderfully ominous entrance, not to mention what the deal is with that weird collar on your neck, but right now I'm too tired. I'm gonna go home and try to enjoy my Christmas while Internal Affairs decides my fate as a police officer."

And then he started off the bridge, before Clawhauser jumped in front of him: "I wouldn't recommend going alone! Right now it's a _pretty_ dangerous place for foxes like you!"

Nick waved off this last-ditch effort. "It always has been; I'll survive. Goodnight Pal, see you on Monday if I still have a job then! Merry Christmas!"

And there he left a slightly crestfallen Clawhauser standing on the bridge.

* * *

But once he got back to the city, strange sights did indeed start to meet Nick's eyes. The first change he noticed was the streets of Savannah Central itself: the streetlights and shops were far less decorated than they had been only an hour ago; there was none of the Christmas cheer he remembered. Instead there were posters everywhere telling mammals to be on the lookout and assuring them they were being protected. But being protected from what, Nick couldn't tell. Several stores were boarded up, and half of the others open seemed to now be selling protective equipment: tasers, civilian dart guns, and pink canisters of Fox-Away among other paraphernalia. Emergency sirens seemed to fill the air from every direction.

The next thing Nick noticed was the change in the people: there were far fewer predators around than Nick was used to seeing, and every one he could see was wearing a gloomy expression and a collar with a glowing light just like Clawhauser had. What was going on here? Every prey animal Nick could see was not wearing a collar, but many of them had frightened, wary faces and gave any predator in the vicinity a wide berth, holding their children's paws tightly. Trying to act as inconspicuous as possible Nick weaved through the crowd, avoiding everyone's eyes while he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Then he passed a newsstand, and that when he saw something that made his eyes almost pop out of their sockets: a pile of newspapers with the face of a familiar ewe with homely square-shaped glasses on the front page, accompanied by the headline: **BELLWETHER MAYOR AGAIN – SHEEP WINS THIRD TERM IN LANDSLIDE VOTE. BELLWETHER SAYS, "LET'S MAKE ZOOTOPIA SAFE AGAIN."**

" _Bellwether mayor…?"_ Nick whispered to himself. Nick tried to grab a paper, to read more of the story, but then a large hoof slammed down next to his paw and made him recoil. "You intending to pay for that, _fox?_ " Nick looked up: the owner of the newsstand, a large warthog with a broken tusk, was eyeing him with more distaste than Nick had seen from anyone in years.

"Yeah, of course," said Nick, with practiced indifference as he reached into his pocket for his wallet. But to his surprise, his wallet wasn't there. Nick checked his other pocket, but it came up empty too. Now getting frantic Nick turned out and patted every pocket on his person, but everything he had been carrying was gone: his wallet, his phone, his keys, his police badge. Had someone pickpocketed him earlier out in the street?

"Well…?" said the hog, "Don't give me that oh-I-forgot-my-wallet routine."

Then he glanced at Nick's neck and his eyes widened. "Hey, where's your collar? You ain't wearin' a shock collar!"

"Shock collar…?" Nick asked, confused.

"Help! Police! We got a rogue predator here!" The warthog cried out.

Panicking, Nick ran, turning down the first alley he saw. Taking a turn that seemed familiar, he ducked through a hole in a fence and leapt over a large mammal lying prone next to a grocery cart full of cans, spying a taxicab at the other end of the alley. "Taxi!" Nick called. But then he saw the driver, a brown march hare, panic and drive away just as Nick got to the car.

"Spare a little change, mate?" groaned a weary voice from beside Nick.

Nick turned around, "I'm sorry, I don't have any-" then he stopped and gasped as he saw just who had spoken to him: a familiar black panther lying under a pile of blue papers. _"Mister Fitwick?"_

Nick inched closer, not sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him or not, but it was true: lying in the alley in front of him was Martin Fitwick, scraggily-furred and dressed in rags with a grocery cart full of cans sitting beside him. Then Nick looked around, and realized just where he was: he standing in front of what should have been Fitwick's arcade, only now it was an all-night café with the sign NO PREDATORS ALLOWED in the window. "Hey - what happened to you? What happened to the arcade?" He asked the panther.

"My arcade?" Fitwick replied, looking confused, "I closed that down years ago, when the word of savage predators got out."

"Savage predators?"Nick repeated, confused.

"Yeah, my cousin was one of the first to go savage, and so naturally me and his other family were among the first to be collared," said Fitwick, his finger tugging at the collar tight around his neck. "You must have been out of the loop a long time, that was over ten years ago."

" _Ten years…?"_ Nick repeated in the same tone as before. "What are you talking about? Carrots and I solved that case! It was all Mayor Bellwether and she made a chemical out of flowers that made animals go savage and we tracked her henchmen to their lab and stopped them!"

"Mayor Bellwether?" Fitwick looked confused. "Are you kidding? If it weren't for her and her shock collar initiative the whole city would have torn itself apart. You should have seen the panic in the streets."

"Yeah, panic _she_ created!" countered Nick. "And what is this 'shock-collar initiative'?"

"Where you been, on the moon?" Fitwick gestured at the collar on his neck, " _This_ is a shock collar. It monitors your heart rate and adrenaline, and if either gets too high, _BZZZ!"_ Fitwick wiggled his body to mimic being electrocuted. "It zaps you. So if you're a predator and you go savage, it stops you from hurting anyone. Simple."

Nick was dumbfounded. He was sure Bellwether would have done something to keep the city under her control once he and Judy were out of the picture, but never had he pictured anything like this. He shook his head, bewildered at what he was seeing. Then Nick noticed something about the blue papers Fitwick was lying under: they looked like diagrams. "Hey, what are those papers you're lying under?"

"These?" Fitwick asked, looking relieved at the change in subject, "Just some old blueprints. I had designs I never got to make when my arcade went under. Seemed better to sleep under these than old newspapers."

He fished the topmost one from the pile and looked at it sadly, "Pity I never finished this one – I guess we could use it right about now, huh?"

Nick looked at the paper, and felt his heart drop into his stomach. It was a diagram of two chairs with funky helmets attached to them, joined together by a computer monitor. And the words in the title box read _P.I.X.A.R. -_ _Prototype Inhibitor for Experiencing Alternate Reality._

"No, no, this isn't right…" Nick murmured, his eyes darting back and forth across the paper, "You built that machine! And then my partner and I saved you from a mob on your opening day, and you let us be the first to use it, and we've been regular customers ever since! Don't you remember me at all? Don't you remember Officer Hopps?"

"Sorry Pal, but I don't know any Officer Hopps, and I've never seen you before in my life," Fitwick responded. And with that he snatched up his blueprints, wrapped them around himself and rolled over on his side again, facing away from Nick.

Nick stumbled away, starting to feel more confused than he had ever felt in his life. He looked around, again taking in the sights of predators in collars and paranoid-looking prey. This wasn't right, this wasn't his Zootopia, it all had to be a dream or something. "Okay Nick," he said to himself, "You're just having a very, _very_ weird dream, and all you have to do is get to your own bed and you'll wake up and you'll be fine."

Accepting this rationale, Nick took off for home.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Nick finally came to a halt in front of his apartment building, panting and gasping for air.

"*Pant*, You'd think *huff* this would be faster in a dream," he huffed to himself. Having no money or credit cards to his name, Nick's only way to get home had been by running. After reaching the front door and re-realizing he no longer had his keys, Nick rang the buzzer. Several moments passed by, a ringing sound coming from the speaker, and then:

" _The number you have dialed is not answering,"_ an electronic female voice crackled from the screen, _"Please hang up, and try again later."_

 _Crud, did Carrots turn her phone off?_ Nick thought to himself. He checked the number to make sure: he had indeed dialed the code for apartment 34, the one he and Judy had shared for seven years. Nick stood there at the door, tense and confused. Then thinking fast, he ran around to the side of the building, stopping and hiding behind a bush next to the entrance to the parking garage. With any luck a car would come along soon, and then he could sneak in…

And as if on cue a blue Volevo SUV pulled into the drive, and the caged garage door started to open. The car moved forward, and Nick on all fours scurried in behind it.

Nick knew the layout of this garage: a ways away to the right was a locked door that led into a room with the elevator door inside. As he watched the Volevo pull into its parking spot and a beaver driver get out he weighed his options: If he were careful enough he could follow the driver to the door and sneak in behind him, or at least block the door as it closed. Unless-

"Hey!" a voice called out. "Whaddaya think you're doin', Sonny!?"

The driver had seen him come in. That only left Nick with only one option. Without thinking Nick jumped up, raced over to the beaver and tackled him to the ground. Grabbing the castor's keys and just barely avoiding having his paw getting bitten Nick jumped off and scrambled for the door. Behind him he heard the digital sounds of a phone being dialed.

"Hello? Police? A fox with no collar just broke into my building! I need help!"

But Nick ignored him as he slammed the door behind him and feverishly pressed the elevator button. After a few tense seconds it _dinged_ and Nick got on, hitting the button for the third floor with all his might.

As the door shut and the elevator started moving upwards, Nick allowed himself to calm down. This was all a dream; nothing of consequence could happen. He just had to get into his apartment, and get back to his own bed. That was how it always happened in a dream, and he wanted this nightmare to be over.

The elevator opened and Nick ran out, turning left and making a beeline down the hall to apartment 34. He stopped, panting, and knocked on the door. No one answered; maybe everyone were asleep, maybe no one was home…

Nick analyzed the door. He may not have been a big mammal, but he was a cop; he knew how to break down a door. He braced himself, just a couple good, well-placed kicks…

Wait, there was a much less painful option. He ducked down the hall, grabbed a fire extinguisher and came back. With all his might, he slammed the canister into the doorknob.

BANG! There was a mighty crack, and he felt the doorknob start to give. He slammed it again, and the knob broke right off, leaving a hole in the door. He reached in and unlocked the other lock right above it. And under the influence of his adrenaline, forgetting his assertion that this all a dream Nick burst in, eyes casting around for his family. "Carrots – JUDY!" He cried, "RIDLEY, ELLA, ARE YOU HERE?"

A light flicked on-

" _SHRIEEEEK!"_

Nick whipped to the side: standing at the entrance to the hallway was an armadillo couple dressed in pajamas, the female looking terrified and the male looking all too willing to defend her. Nick frantically looked around – there were no bunnies or little fox here, no pictures of them, even the furniture was different. This wasn't his apartment anymore!

The female armadillo frantically dialled her phone, "HELP! Police, HELP!" she screamed into it.

"Get out of here, _fox!"_ her mate snarled. Then with a roar he ran up, curled into a ball and bowled into Nick, slamming the fox against the wall. Winded, Nick barely dodged another blow and fled out the door he had just broken in through. He ran back to the elevator and jammed on the button; thankfully the elevator hadn't moved, for the door dinged right open. He got in, and got the door shut just in time before the angry armadillo tried to get in after him, this time holding a taser.

Nick's heart pounded in his chest, and he mentally cursed himself. He had been thinking so hard that going home was the key to ending the dream he hadn't actually considered the possibility his family might not be there. He thought hard, and came up with one more option: go to his mother's place and hide out there until the dream ended. Ellaine Wilde had to still be living in her old apartment; she had lived there for almost forty years. And surely his own mother would recognize him.

The elevator dinged open and he ran for the front door. He had only been here five minutes, with any luck the police weren't here yet-

" _Oof!"_ he ran into something soft and squishy and fell back on his rear. He looked up: what he had run into was a big, blue stomach, attached to the massive body of a ram with black wool dressed in a police uniform. The ram was accompanied by a white ram also in uniform with an eyepatch over one eye, and both rams looked almost gleeful to see Nick.

They also looked strangely familiar.

"Well, well, looky what we got here!" smirked the one-eyed ram, "A fox without a collar – we'll really gonna get a bonus for this one!"

"Care to show us some identification, _Fox?_ " sneered the other ram.

And then Nick thought of it, another way to end the dream, and this way was a surefire. _And if this is about to end..._ he thought, _maybe I'll have a little fun first_. Stooping over, he cinched up his jacket so the top of it hung over his head like a hood, and gestured his paw at the officers: _"You don't_ need _to see my identification_ ," he chanted in his best Obi-Wan Clawnobi impression.

The two officers were nonplussed. "How do ya like that, we got ourselves a comedian," said the black ram.

" _I'm not the fox you're looking for,"_ Nick continued, milking the moment.

"Maybe he's on something," said the one with the eyepatch.

" _I can go about my business."_

"Nope, looks like a clear cut case of pre-savagery psychosis," said the black ram, and Nick could have sworn he saw him wink at his partner.

"Oh no, I just know this is a dream!" Nick stated. "Watch, I'll show you!"

And then the fox spread his arms out, closed his eyes with a confident smile, and allowed himself to fall forward. He hit the ground with the thud in front of the baffled officers.

" _Ow..."_ Nick raised himself off the ground, rubbing his sore muzzle. He looked around, and saw nothing had changed. "Weird, that worked in _Zooception._ "

"Yep, definitely pre-savagery psychosis," said the one-eyed ram. "He could be about to get violent!"

The other ram nodded. "Get him!"

And the next thing Nick knew a hoof slammed into his back, knocking the wind out of him. Pinned to the ground, the fox gasped for air as he felt manacles snap around his wrists.

"Gotta keep that trap shut, he could start biting any minute!" said the black ram.

"Right!" replied the one who was holding Nick down. And then to his horror, Nick felt a cold, metal cage slide over his mouth and a cold pleather strap fasten tight around his head. Raw phobic panic flooded through Nick at the feel of the muzzle, old trauma deep inside reawakening, and he began to thrash hard as he could, rubbing his head against the ground trying to get the accursed thing off. Jeers from long ago echoed inside his head, and he tried hard as he could to block them out:

" _You think we would ever trust a fox without a muzzle?"_

" _You're dumber than you look!"_

Nick continued to struggle as the two rams dragged/carried to him to a black van with the words ZPD painted on the side. Nick had never seen a vehicle like it on the police force before. Then the one-eyed ram opened the door in the back and Nick was thrown in like a sack of potatoes.

"Wait!" Nick cried as clearly as he could with the muzzle obscuring his mouth, "Yoo didn' rea' me my righths! I wan' my pho' call!"

"Rights? Hah! The state abolished Furanda rights for savage preds like you!" the black ram stated smugly, and he slammed the door in Nick's face. Then Nick heard the van start up, and felt it begin to drive, making him roll around the floor he was lying on. He began to struggle hard as he could, rubbing his head against the floor, desperately trying to get the wretched cage off his face.

" _Got us a live one, eh Jesse?"_ he heard through the van wall.

" _You said it, Woolter!"_ said Jesse.

Nick stopped struggling against the muzzle for a second as those names registered. _Woolter, Jesse…_ he knew those names. And then it hit him - _they were Bellwether's henchmen! Those clowns had aided and abetted Bellwether in her night howler plot and almost killed him and Judy!_

"Oh _–em–_ goodness… I'm sorry Nick, I didn't expect things to go this bad so fast!"

Nick gave a jump and whipped around at the sound of the familiar high, lispy voice: sitting four feet away on the bench opposite him, looking worried and having appeared just as suddenly and mysteriously as before, was Benjamin Clawhauser.

" _Claw-hawsh-err!"_ Nick struggled through the mask.

"Here, let me get that for you," and the cheetah strode over and unstrapped the muzzle, freeing Nick's face. The fox gasped, taking in breaths of sweet, sweet air. He hadn't realized he had been barely breathing. "Benji," he panted as Clawhauser helped him onto the bench opposite him, "How are you doing that?"

"I dunno, I just… wish it and it happens," Clawhauser replied. "Anyway, sorry, you seemed to want to be alone so I thought I'd let you be for a while; _really_ didn't think you'd get arrested so soon!"

"Well, I'm having a very, _very_ serious off night," Nick quipped as he struggled against the pawcuffs binding his wrists. "Benji… what's going on here? And why can't I wake up from this crazy dream?"

"Dream? You mean you don't think this is a joke anymore?" Clawhauser asked.

"Of course not! Not even Carrots can turn Savannah Central into a set from a dystopia movie like that!" Nick protested, "But seriously, why is Bellwether mayor, why is my family missing and why does everyone think predators are going savage again?"

"Don't you see, Nick? It's because you were not _born_."

Nick was struck dumb. "Not…born?"

"That's right," Clawhauser replied calmly. "You made a wish, and now because you weren't there to help stop Bellwether in the first place she runs the city! This is no dream…" he gestured with his paws like a stage magician, "It's _reality_."

Nick gaped for a moment, and then shook his head and struggled some more against his pawcuffs. "What are you talking about? Of course I was born! My name is Officer Nick Wilde and I live with my mate Judy Hopps and we have two kits together!"

Clawhauser shook his own head. "You are not an officer now. You have no mate, you have no children."

"If I wasn't born, then who am I?"

"Why, you're nobody! You got no cards, no ID, no police badge, you can be whoever you want now!"

"And just how _do_ you know my wallet and things are missing? I don't suppose you took them?" Then Nick did a double take as yet another question struck him. "Wait, how come _you_ recognize me? Nobody else around here does!"

"I told you, I'm here as your guide. I'm here to help you."

"Yeah, you said that. But why _you?_ If Carrots were my guide I'd be a lot more ready to listen."

"Well, you see-"

But then the van screeched to a halt, and Clawhauser vanished. Nick stared at the spot where he'd been, unable to believe his eyes for the umpteenth time that night, before the two rams opened the door.

"Alright," said Woolter. "Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3: Cliffside

The sound of running water hit Nick's ears as soon as the van doors were opened. Loud and fast, like a waterfall. He looked out past the two rams, and saw a narrow path lit by streetlamps and cloud-shrouded mountains in the background. His eyes widened, _it couldn't be…_

"Hey, his muzzle's off!" Jesse pointed out.

"Hold him down while I get it back on!" ordered Woolter, climbing into the truck. Nick felt a pair of hooves slam into his back and pin him down again while the black ram retrieved the muzzle from the floor and shoved it back on Nick's face, tightening the strap so hard Nick let out a whimper. "That's done it. Move it, _Fox!"_ He grunted.

Nick didn't move, he could barely even think.

"I said _move!"_ Woolter snarled as he grabbed Nick's paw and yanked him out of the van. Nick gathered himself as best he could with his cuffed paws before both rams picked him up by the armpits, turned him around, and made him start walking. Nick looked up and gasped.

Thunder boomed ominously across the dark sky over the towering hospital he now recognized as Cliffside Asylum. An institution set on a small island on top of a huge waterfall adjoined to the mainland by a narrow bridge, just like Nick remembered it. This was the place where he and Judy had found those missing mammals years ago. But the asylum was bigger now, with a new building atop an artificial island joining the main facility. It had a wire fence around it and bars covering all its windows which told Nick it was a cellblock, and something also told him it was no white collar prison. He looked around some more and noticed another difference: there were no wolf guards around now; all the officers that he could see were more rams, bulls, and oxen. No chance of starting a howl to get away this time.

"Your first time here, Fox?" Jesse sneered as they approached a small screen and speaker by the front door. "You'll have a ball – they _love_ you vulpes in here."

He waved a plastic ID card at the screen, which flashed green. _"Name and purpose?"_ asked a deep, accented and colourless voice coming out of the speaker. Nick gave a little start. _That voice._

"Officers Pinkmerino and Whitewool, escorting a new inmate. Open!"

Then there was a loud BZZZ, and the double doors slid open. Nick was escorted through them into what looked like the lobby, and if he hadn't been wearing the muzzle his jaw would have dropped, for sitting at the end of the hall at the reception desk was none other than the hulking form of Chief Bogo, dressed in a white security guard uniform.

" _Cheef!"_ Nick called as loud as he could through the muzzle. "Cheef Bo-go, than' goodneth it'th you!"

The Cape buffalo put on his glasses to greet them as the group approached the desk. It was then that Nick saw that Bogo's left arm was in a sling. He also looked surlier than usual, and more worn and grey than Nick had ever seen him. There were also numerous prescription bottles sitting on his desk.

"Cheef! It'th me, Nick!" Nick sputtered.

"Would you take that muzzle off his face? I can barely understand him," Bogo stated in a deadpan voice.

"No can do Buffalo-Butt, he's got pre-savagery psychosis," Jesse responded, "We take that off and he'll start biting at ya."

That threw Nick for a loop; he had called Bogo Buffalo-Butt before, but only behind his back; he would never ever have said that to the chief's face. But to his surprise, Bogo's only reaction was a snort and a flick of his ear.

"He doesn't look psychotic to me," Bogo retorted. "And if he starts biting I am sure we can protect ourselves. Mask off. Please."

With no small hint of reluctance Woolter undid the straps on the back of Nick's head, and once again Nick's face was given sweet freedom. He grabbed at the edge of Bogo's desk, staring directly in the Cape buffalo's eyes. "Chief! Chief, you gotta help me!" he panted.

"'Chief'? Why do you address me as such?" Bogo asked.

"It's what you are! It's – never mind! I don't know what's going on here but I know Bellwether's behind all this and these guys are in league with her! I can prove it if you just listen-"

"Okay, psychosis it is. Lock him up," said Bogo dispassionately.

"NO!" Nick yelled as the muzzle was forced over his mouth once again. "CHIEF, _NO!"_ but his cries fell on deaf ears as the two rams took him away.

Nick was led down a dark hallway and into a little room, and it was there that his head was forced down and a black shock collar was strapped onto his neck. Woolter held up what looked like a barcode scanner to the collar box and it gave a _beep_ and a little lightbulb on the box started glowing green. Nick ignored this, continuing to struggle against his bonds and against the muzzle still attached to his face.

"What say we give it a test run, Jesse?" asked Woolter.

"Well, why – _not!"_ said Jesse. And he pulled out a remote and pressed a button:

 _BZZZZZ!_

" _AAAHHH!"_ Nick screamed and doubled over as the lightbulb turned red and the shock collar activated and electricity coursed from his neck through his body like a taser. His entire body seized up, he couldn't move, couldn't even breathe. Then the voltage stopped and Nick collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Yep, it works," said Woolter with relish. And then, his eyes screwed shut from the pain Nick found himself being hoisted by the armpits and carried out of the room and down the hall. Then they stopped, he felt his pawcuffs being unlocked from around his wrists, and a familiar clanking and creaking sound told him a cell door was being opened.

"Get in there, Fox!" said Woolter, and Nick was thrown into the cell and the door slammed hard behind him. "We'll book ya later, meantime you two might as well get acquainted," the black ram sneered. Then he gestured to the other ram, "Come on Jesse, we can still catch the party in the breakroom." And the two buck sheep officers walked off.

A minute later Nick felt strength return to his limbs again, along with the unwelcome reminder that he was still wearing a muzzle. With a rush of anger he ripped the contraption off and threw it against the wall with all his might. Then a sudden jolt from the collar zapped him in the neck, making him drop to one knee. Thankfully that shock wasn't near as strong as the first; it was more like a warning zap.

"Boy, what is this – your first shock collar?" grunted a deep voice from nearby. Nick whipped around, and for the umpteenth time that night his jaw dropped at the sight of a familiar face. _"Finnick?"_

Lying on the cot opposite, ears oversized as usual and with sunglasses over his eyes, was his old friend and former partner Finnick the fennec fox. He was wearing a ragged brown jacket over his usual black shirt and shorts, and had on a shock collar just like Nick now did. The fennec lifted up his glasses, a confused look in his baggy eyes. "Yeah, we know each other?"

Nick was beginning to wonder how many more familiar faces he would have to explain himself to tonight. "Uh, _yeah!"_ he stated, "We worked together for years! We pulled off all kinds of hustles together!"

"You must mean someone else, I ain't never had a partner and the whole scammin' bit died out years ago," Finnick replied with his usual air of indifference, "Now I just get myself thrown in here and then, at least there's free food and a bed."

"But… you're not savage," Nick observed.

"Well, duh! Neither are you!" Finnick declared, sitting up on his cot. "You think they care? The more savage predators they get in here, the more the hornheads who run the joint get paid. All a pred's gotta do is act a little nutty and it's a free ticket to Cliffside. Watch, I'll show ya."

He got off the cot, raised his claws, bared his teeth wide as he could and started growling and swiping furiously at the air:

"ROWRROWRROWRROWRROWR!"

Nick bit down the urge to laugh. "Reeeal convincing," he muttered sarcastically.

Finnick dusted himself off. "Works every time, that or bitin'. It's th' most fun I get since they closed up Wild Times."

"Um… Wild Times?" Nick queried.

"Yeah, ol' Mister Big's amusement park. It was all over the internet, you been under a rock?"

"Uh…" _Mister Big? Amusement park?_ Nick figured if he wanted answers, it was best to play along. "In a shack, actually. I got in trouble with the law, this 'disappearer' set me up in this little hick town called Podunk. They barely have electricity up there, much less internet."

"Figures, that's bunny country," said Finnick. "You want the story or what? We got nothin' but time in here."

Nick was surprised to hear Finnick say that; the fennec was not one to give up details easily, let alone voluntarily. "Um… sure."

Finnick sat back on the cot, facing Nick: "Some ten years ago, predators started going missin'. Was all quiet, barely in the news. Then one day this fox, a vixen, she went crazy and attacked a cop out in broad daylight."

"A fox attacked a cop…?" Nick whispered.

Finnick nodded. "Yep. Dunno who, details were sketchy, but one thing led to another and it turned out that somehow these missin' predators were goin' savage, losing their minds and walking on all fours an' growlin', and the mayor was holdin' them all in some abandoned nuthouse. This place," Finnick pointed down at the room they were in. "Then he was fired o' course, and ol' Dawn Bellwether, she became the new mayor, and then a year later she came out with this 'shock collars' policy, and all preds gotta wear 'em in case something "happens"." Finnick made quotation marks with his fingers. "O' course, when them collars came there was protest. But one guy, this mob boss shrew Mister Big, he used connections to make this remote-thing that could remove anyone's collars whenever he wanted. So he set up this secret amusement park, called it 'Wild Times', where predators could take off their collars an' have a break from it all. He even hired families o' the savage predators, gave 'em a place to stay."

This was very interesting to Nick, for it was just the kind of thing he might have done had he grown up in this world.

"…But o' course it didn't last – one day the cops raided the joint, and ol' Big took a tranq dart right to the chest, he was dead before he hit the ground. An' that kid of his, Fru-Fru, her and her hubby and kit, they all got squashed when one o' their polar bear guards got knocked out and fell on 'em."

"Fru-Fru and Ju-Ju…?" Nick gasped. _Judy's friend and goddaughter._

"Dunno where you got that name, last I heard her kit's name was Millie," said Finnick dismissively.

 _Fru-Fru didn't name her daughter after Judy… did they even meet in this world?_ Nick wondered to himself.

Just then there was a clanking noise, and the cell door opened. "Finnick Fennec?" grumbled a deep and colorless voice that made Nick's ears perk up. "Your twenty-four hour observation is over and your blood test came back clean, you are free to go."

"Bogo!" Nick ran past Finnick and clambered up to the Cape buffalo who had just arrived, Bogo's left arm still in a sling and his right holding a police baton. "Chief, I swear I'm not crazy! Bellwether really is behind this and she made this chemical that makes predators go savage- _oof!"_ The pointed end of the baton poked him in the stomach and pushed him backwards.

"Back! BACK!" Bogo ordered. He pointed at Finnick, "I'm only here for _him_."

Nick was getting frantic. "NO, Chief, you gotta listen- AAAAH!" his shock collar went off and Nick dropped to both knees in pain.

"That was a warning, Fox," said Bogo, pointing a remote like Jesse had at him. He gestured at Finnick, "Come. You're going home."

Finnick slowly got off his cot and started ambling towards the door. But then he paused, and gave Nick a little wink.

Nick saw what was coming a second before Bogo did.

" _ROWRROWRROWRROWRROWR!"_ Finnick let out a loud growl and pounced, sinking his little fangs into Bogo's leg.

"ARRRRGH!" Bogo yelled.

"ROWR! ROWR! _ROWR!"_ Finnick snarled through a mouthful of cloth and buffalo leg.

Nick tried to make a break for it, but the buffalo seized him by the scruff of the neck with his good arm and threw him back in the cell, all while trying to shake Finnick off his leg. He whipped out his collar activator and Nick got zapped again, harder this time. The Cape buffalo slammed the cell door shut, tore Finnick off his leg and started limping down the hall, the little fennec clutched in his hoof still feigning savagery.

"WAIT!" Nick forced himself up, and grabbed the bars of his cell. "It's night howlers!" he cried at Bogo's back, "IT'S NIGHT HOWLERS!"

Bogo himself made no effort to look back, but in the distance Nick saw another ram officer give a start, look in his direction, and then dash around a corner.

Nick slowly fell to his knees again. One paw still clutched at the bars of his cell, and the other started feeling at the soft metal that was the box of his shock collar. He could trace every detail with his finger, even feel the tiny heat the blinking light on the box gave off. If this was a dream, it was by far the most vivid and lucid one he had ever had; not only had the pain from the shocks and his beatings had felt very real, but he still felt sore and tingly from the effects. It all seemed _so_ real, could it actually be…

" _No!"_ Nick hissed to himself. Whatever this was, it _couldn't_ be real. He sat with a wince on his rear against the bars. If he was going to make any more sense of this there was only one mammal who could help him. He cleared his throat and spoke to the air: "Benji?"

And with only the smallest delay, Clawhauser popped out of thin air again. "Hi Nick! Sorry to leave you back there, but I've got-"

"An explanation for how to get out of this nightmare, I hope," Nick interrupted. "Benji, if this isn't a dream, and I'm still not convinced it isn't, what can I do to undo…" he gestured around his paw, "all of this? How can I make myself… born again?"

Clawhauser suddenly looked really excited. "Why, that's super-simple, Nick!"

"What is it?"

"You just have to _believe_ ," Clawhauser whispered dramatically.

Nick frowned in confusion. "Uh… say wha?"

"You have to _accept_ that this all happened because of you. You have to _embrace_ the fact that the world was a better place with you in it. Only then can your wish be undone."

This sounded nothing short of corny to Nick, but he was willing to try anything. "Alright, I'll give it a try…" The fox closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and tried to make himself feel as sincere as possible. "I see now that I really have made a difference, and I would like to live again, please."

He opened his eyes, and as he expected saw that nothing had changed, except that Clawhauser now looked disappointed. "Sorry," Nick said, "But even discounting the whole dream thing, there's still another possibility we haven't explored. And frankly I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner."

"Oh? What is it?" the cheetah asked.

"I'm going crazy and you're just a hallucination."

Clawhauser sighed. "Okay Nick, we'll try again later. Let's just get you out of here…" The cheetah started to move towards Nick and the door.

"Wait!" Nick ordered. He crossed his arms, "Before we go anywhere I have to know: what are you, how do you know so much, and how are you doing all this?"

" _Ummm…"_ Clawhauser looked like he didn't know where to start, chewing his lip and darting his eyes to and fro. Nick decided to start with a guess.

"This is your world, isn't it?" He asked the cheetah, "Are you not the Ben Clawhauser I know, but the one from this world where I was never born?"

The cheetah nodded.

"But why you?" Nick probed. "Why not Carrots or Finnick or – heck, Buffalo Butt, what makes you my guardian angel or whatever this is?"

 _Angel…_ Suddenly realization dawned over Nick. Had he just answered his own question? "Benji…" he started, his eyes widening, "You're – you're not…"

"…That's right, Nick," Clawhauser answered morosely, "I'm dead."

Nick drew a sharp intake of breath. He was stunned. _Clawhauser, dead?_ Without thinking he blurted out the first line that popped into his head: "Um… looking good?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound so morbid!" Clawhauser waved his paws in front of him, "But yeah… Nick, I, uh – I died about a year after the shock collar initiative came out. Guess that makes me a ghost now."

Nick got up and instinctively patted Clawhauser's stomach. It _felt_ solid. "Err... You feel kind of alive to me."

But Clawhauser wasn't quite paying attention. "Hmm, maybe 'ghost' isn't the right word. I could be an angel, but they have wings; maybe I have to earn them… Or-ooh! _Zombie…_ "

"Benji," Nick interrupted, "What happened to you? And what did my absence have to do with it?"

The cheetah sat down on the cot, which sagged under his weight, and began to tell his own story:

"After the story of savage predators came out and Dawn Bellwether became mayor, she decided to undermine the ZPD by making one of their own officers go savage. And… somehow I was the one they picked."

Nick sat on the floor in front of him, entranced. Clawhauser continued:

"Um, you see, after the public scares began they started putting predator officers into non-public positions; I was one of them."

"Yeah I know, Carrots told me," breathed Nick, "She said you were sent down to records in the basement."

"And it was horrible," Clawhauser affirmed, "Hot and dark, no one to talk to, working right next to this old gas boiler that hadn't been serviced in at least ten years. Nick, I must've sweated off twenty pounds!" He pulled on the loose fabric of his uniform for emphasis; Nick remembered observing earlier that this Clawhauser seemed thinner than the one he knew.

"Then Bellwether sent one her rams in, posing as a ZPD officer. He brought me a box of doughnuts down in the basement, and one of them was filled with nighthowler. As soon as I ate it, I went crazy. My collar went off, I thrashed around, I crashed into the boiler…"

The cheetah spread his arms out and made a _kabooosh_ sound with his lips.

Nick gasped, and clapped his paws over his mouth. He shook his head in denial, it couldn't be. _"Ben…"_ he croaked, struggling to speak.

But to his surprise, Clawhauser seemed perfectly calm. "Oh, it's okay, Nick!" the cheetah said reassuringly. "TBH, I've pretty much gotten over it by now."

Nick was shocked. Clawhauser was the only mammal he knew who could match Judy in cheery optimism, but being unfazed by having been murdered was a whole new level. "Are… you sure?" he asked.

"Sure I'm sure! Being dead's not so bad!" Clawhauser asserted. But then his smile faded, and a faraway look appeared in his eyes. "Of course, there's no doughnuts in the afterlife, no candy, no cereal…"

His lip trembled, "No _GAZEEEELLE!"_ He wailed. He began bawling, large dramatic tears spurting out of his eyes. Nick didn't know whether to cry with his friend or laugh. In the end he got up on the cot next to the sobbing cheetah and put his arm around his shoulders in comfort, drawing Clawhauser into a one-armed hug.

"Ben…" he muttered, "I'm so sorry. So sorry I wasn't there."

Clawhauser sniffled, trying to get himself back together. "It's okay, (sniff) I don't blame you at all. And I know you can stop it from ever happening, that's comforting."

Nick thought about what Clawhauser had said about this world being undone if he wished hard enough and nodded, more for Clawhauser's benefit than his own.

Clawhauser sniffled once more, and then to Nick's further surprise, continued the story:

"The explosion that killed me also destroyed part of the precinct and a couple more officers died, along with the ram who brought the doughnuts in the first place. And Bellwether never put up funding to have the station repaired, so between that and being low on officers Precinct One was closed and everyone left was sent to different stations. Poor Chief Bogo… it broke him, Nick. And then he had a stroke, and had to quit the force. Working here was the best he could get."

Nick thought about this world's Bogo, how he couldn't use one arm, and how worn and defeated he'd looked. "And I thought my Bogo had blood pressure problems…" the fox said to himself.

But then Nick remembered the other parts of his original question, and frowned in confusion.

"So let me get this straight…" He got off the cot and stood in front of Clawhauser, "You're not my Clawhauser…" He pointed his right paw to the left, "But you know all about me, even though I was never born in this world…" He pointed his left paw to the right, "and you're _here_ , even though you say you're dead, and you've got these weird vanishing powers…" He crossed his right paw over his left, "and you know all these things that you shouldn't know because you yourself weren't there…" And by now Nick's arms, and mind, were all twisted like a pretzel. After getting his limbs untangled he paced furiously around the cell for a minute, pondering what felt like the mysteries of the universe, before he fell back on the cot, stumped. "Is it a convoluted metaphysical answer involving alternate timelines and/or all-knowing deities?" Nick asked.

"Something like that," Clawhauser replied, "But to sum it up, I got a job. I'm your guide, and I am going to guide you into undoing this dark and gloomy world or die trying! _Err_ , die again!"

Nick was still baffled, but he decided not to question the matter further. But if he ever did return things to normal he was going to give some serious consideration to starting attending church.

Clawhauser then straightened up, looking like he was steeling himself. "C'mon Nick, there's more you have to see. We gotta get you out of here now."


	4. Chapter 4: Savages

"Now?" Nick was taken aback by the urgency in Clawhauser's words. "What's the hurry?"

"They overheard you mentioning night howlers! They're calling Bellwether now, she might order you killed!"

Nick gasped.

"Also, there's something else in here you have to see, and it that might really convince you this time!" Clawhauser added.

Nick did not like that prospect, but he was willing to try anything to end this nightmare now. "Okay! Are you going to vanish me out?"

"Sorry, I can't! I can only vanish myself! _But…_ " Clawhauser reached into a pocket and pulled out a set of keys, "These should work!"

Nick was incredulous. "You need to use keys? I thought you were a ghost!"

"Not exactly, I have substance, I just can't be seen or heard by anyone other than you. _Oh!_ And before we go-"

Clawhauser produced a black remote device identical to the ones Jesse and Bogo had used. "What say we take off that collar?"

Nick nodded eagerly. The cheetah pushed a button:

 _BZZZ!_

"AHHH!" A short zap from the collar shocked Nick, making him flop to the ground.

" _Sorry!"_ Clawhauser mumbled sheepishly. He looked at the remote more closely this time, and pressed another button. This time the collar gave a click, and Nick felt sweet release similar to the removal of the muzzle as the box and strap fell off his neck and onto the ground with a clatter.

"That's great, thanks!" breathed Nick as he rubbed the indented and singed fur where his collar had been.

After a few tries with the keys Clawhauser unlocked the cell and popped his head out, looking left and then right. Satisfied no one was around, he gestured at Nick. "Okay!" he whispered.

And the fox and cheetah pair sneaked out of the cell into the white corridor, trying to make as little noise as possible. After they were halfway down the hall Clawhauser ran ahead and looked around the corner. _"We're good!"_ he hissed at Nick. Nick tiptoed over, and they kept going. As a couple tense minutes of this went by Nick noticed two things: Clawhauser made no noise as he walked, and he seemed to have possess better stamina than the Clawhauser he knew; his Benji would have been well out of breath by now. It was probably something to do with his being a ghost.

But a _solid_ ghost? Nick was having a lot of difficulty wrapping his head around the concept.

"Okay, we gotta follow this corridor, take the next left, and then the second right," Clawhauser whispered in the softest tone possible.

"Uh, Benji," Nick breathed back, "If no one else can hear you, you really don't need to whisper."

"Oh, right!" Clawhauser piped up. He ran up to the left turn they had to take, and poked his head around like before. "Okay, all clear!" He called to Nick. Nick started forward, but then a door opened behind him and a black ram in uniform came out-

"Hey you!" barked Woolter.

" _Run, Nick!"_ Clawhauser yelled. And Nick took off.

"Officer Whitewool to dispatch, we got a rogue fox on the loose, subduing now!" The pursuing ram pulled a shock collar remote out of his pocket, he pressed the button-

And nothing happened.

"HA HA!" Nick taunted as he raced down the corridor and ducked around the corner. He could hear Woolter calling for backup on his radio, but he ignored it. He kept running, he saw Clawhauser up ahead, waiting for him at the second right. He put on an extra burst of speed-

" _Halt!"_

Nick barely dodged in time as former-chief Bogo jumped out from another hallway beside him and snatched at him. Nick kept going and Bogo followed, limping heavily with the leg on his pants in tatters and his bad arm now dangling uselessly at his side.

"Chief Bogo, I _swear_ I'm not the enemy here!" Nick called back, "They're behind all this; _they killed Clawhauser!"_

He caught a quick glimpse of a shocked expression appearing on Bogo's face and Woolter catching up to them as he turned right at the next corridor. Clawhauser was up ahead, holding up his keys with one paw and holding a door open with the other. "In here, Nick! I'll run ahead and distract them!"

Nick raced up and flew through the doorway.

"And Nick – I'm _really_ sorry for what you're about to see!" Clawhauser hissed. Nick closed the door to a crack and watched the cheetah run up ahead and turn another corner, and then he heard a loud clanking noise that sounded like a fire extinguisher hitting the floor, signalling the two pursuing officers to come after him. Nick shut the door completely just before Woolter and Bogo came charging around the corner. He locked the door and pressed his ear to it, listening closely. He heard hoofsteps running away from him for a moment, and then they came back.

" _Which way did he go!? Help me find him!"_ came the agitated voice of Woolter.

" _What, did you, Officer Woolter Whitewool, lose a suspect?"_ Bogo deadpanned, _"What a pity."_

" _Shut it, cripple!"_ Woolter growled. There was a pause. _"Ya think he's in there?"_

Nick's heart skipped a beat, but then he heard Bogo's voice:

" _That old storeroom? Last I checked it was quite locked and I see the only key here on my waist, but I'm_ sure _a_ fox _could pick the lock in less than ten seconds."_

With a start, Nick realized that Bogo was covering for him; there was at least one other key, Clawhauser had it. He heard nothing for a second, and then the doorknob rattled; clearly Woolter was testing it.

" _Fine, he's not in there, let's keep looking!"_ said the ram. Nick heard the beep and crackling of a radio: _"Jesse, start a sweep of the outer perimeter! That fox can't get away!"_

Nick let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in. And then, using his night vision he scanned around the room he was in: there was all kinds of dusty equipment in here; a chalkboard, bed frames, mattresses, wheelchairs, all looking very familiar. And then he looked down and saw what looked like a sewer grate in the filthy white-tiled floor. Nick's eye's bulged with realization: _he'd been here before! He and Judy had come through that sewer grate when they broke in here years ago!_

He looked back at the way he had just come in; he could have sworn there wasn't a door there before. Then he looked ahead, and spied the same heavy metal door he and Judy used in the past. He walked up and opened it, this time by himself with little hesitation. But to his surprise, instead of the brand new operating room he and Judy had found before he was now in just another cold and dusty room, full of equipment covered in white sheets. Nick moved over to the biggest shape in the middle of the room and peeked under it: it was a low-level operating table, designed for large mammals to be worked on by a much smaller badger-sized doctor, just like he remembered. He mulled this over, and could only come to one conclusion: since Bellwether's goons were running this place there was no one around with actual incentive to try and cure any savage mammals.

Suddenly a loud roar and a crash behind Nick broke the silence, making him almost jump out of his skin. The fox whipped around: there was a glass cell on the wall outside the room, occupied by a naked tiger on all fours. _Of course,_ Nick remembered, _this was where the savage mammals were kept_. Nick tiptoed over and gazed down the hall of cells, trying and failing not to look at the mammals behind the glass walls. The dimly-lit cellblock was even gloomier than he remembered; heavy scratch marks lined the whole floor, and a stink of sweat and other bodily excretions polluted the air as if the staff were hardly bothering to clean the patients and their cells anymore. The savage mammals themselves looked ragged, scarred and malnourished. Nick had been so scared when he had first seen these poor mammals, but now he felt nothing but sorrow for them. Had they really been trapped here, deprived of sunshine and interaction with others, for over ten years? Nick had never thought about how long the original night howler serum might have lasted in one's system, but seeing it still affecting mammals after a whole decade was truly disturbing.

He inched slowly down the hall, familiar faces from long ago all growling at him: the tiger, a grizzly bear, a black timber wolf-

A sudden _ROWR_ made Nick flinch. There was a black panther prowling in the cell to his right. _"Manchas…"_ Nick whispered. Mister Big's driver, the same panther that had attacked him and Judy in the Rainforest District. And then Nick realized: if Mr. Manchas was here, that would mean…

A higher-pitched whimper of a much smaller mammal then confirmed Nick's suspicions. The fox tiptoed over and looked in the cell right next to Manchas: there, emaciated and scruffy like all the others was Emmitt Otterton, the florist whose disappearance had sparked the case that brought Nick and Judy together. But instead of snarling and hissing like before he was now yelping and scratching furiously on himself, and Nick could see patches of fur missing from his back and legs; the poor otter had mange.

Nick stared like he was looking at a sideshow attraction, his nose pressed his nose against the glass, before he felt a large paw softly touch his shoulder. He looked up: it was Clawhauser.

"Can you help them, Benji?" Nick asked, trying to keep his voice straight.

"I can't help anyone but you, Nick," Clawhauser answered sadly, "I never even learned about all this while I was alive."

Suddenly Nick heard a familiar beeping sound to his left. He whipped around and saw: someone was using their code to get in.

" _Hide!"_ Clawhauser hissed. The pair raced back down the hall and hid around the corner just as an electric buzz filled the room and the door opened.

Nick peeked around the corner and watched as a ram dressed in a white security guard uniform walked in, accompanied by a much smaller figure: a brown otter with wide green eyes, wearing a threadbare cardigan and carrying a package under her arm.

" _Mrs. Otterton…"_ Nick whispered. Emmitt's wife, who had set Judy on the search for him when the otter went missing.

"I'm afraid there has been no change, Mrs. Otterton," the ram guard grunted, his voice devoid of sympathy.

"I know…" Mrs. Otterton sighed, "But I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't give him his present."

She sounded so tired, so defeated; Nick felt his heart reach out to her, realizing she must have spent the last ten years watching her husband waste away, never getting better, never even recognizing her. He watched her walk up to the glass of Emmitt's cell, staring intently just like he had a minute ago.

"Merry Christmas, Emmitt," she whispered at the cell door. "I… made you something special this year."

Mrs. Otterton held up the parcel she had been carrying and started to unwrap it in front of the savage otter in the cell.

"Here, Emmitt, look!" she held up a large red and green blanket, handknitted it looked like. "I know you used to love your sweaters, but you won't even wear them now, so I hope this will keep you warm instead."

The ram guard took the blanket from her paws, opened a hatch in Otteron's cell door and stuffed the blanket inside, giving it as much tenderness and care as a bag of garbage. There was a long pause, and then Nick heard little snarls and ripping sounds coming from Emmitt's cell as if he were tearing the blanket apart with his teeth. Mrs. Otterton just sighed, her shoulders drooping.

"Please, _please_ get better soon…" she whispered, "I miss you, the boys miss you, and I don't want them to see you like this."

Her voice was sad, but it didn't crack; if anything it had a resigned quality to it as if she was used to saying this. And then she turned away, clearly unable to watch anymore, and the ram started to lead her back to the exit, gnawing sounds still coming from Emmitt's cell.

"We are doing the best we can, I promise," said the ram guard. But his voice had a lack of sincerity to it that Nick could practically smell. He gritted his teeth in anger, wanting nothing more than to run over and throttle the ram who was abetting Emmitt's incarceration and Mrs. Otterton's suffering.

Suddenly a _ROWR_ and a loud _BAM_ emanated from the last cell in line, making both the guard and Mrs. Otterton jump aside. "Back! Back!" the ram yelled, rapping his baton against the glass. "I apologize Mrs. Otterton, Maid Marion is acting feisty today."

 _Maid Marion…_ Nick gave a start, and his eyes widened. _The name of a vixen… Finnick said a savage vixen had attacked a cop, could this be her?_

The second the door shut behind the guard and Mrs. Otterton Nick leapt out of his hiding spot and raced to the cell 'Maid Marion' was being kept in. He had to see her, he had to be sure it wasn't-

And the vixen that met his eyes from the other side of the glass was exactly the one Nick had prayed it wasn't. A vixen in her late sixties, with green eyes just like his but with her pupils now slitted-

" _Mom…"_ Nick gasped, his nose and paws pressing against the glass.

Ellaine Wilde was prowling on all fours inside the cell, dressed in hospital scrubs ragged from clawing and sniffing the ground as if hoping the floor would yield her fresher air. Then the savage stopped, and sniffed the air. Twice. She turned and looked at Nick, her feral eyes staring directly into his own. Nick's heart gave a leap – did she know his scent? Could she, on some level beyond thought and reasoning, recognize him after all?

"Mom…" he whispered, "It's me, Nicky! Don't you know me?"

But Ellaine gave no indication she understood him. She didn't even move for a few seconds. But then-

"ROWR!" the vixen attacked, slamming into the glass between them.

"Mom! MOM!" Nick cried. "It's me! It's your son!"

But this only spurred Ellaine on further and she clawed harder and harder on the glass. The tip of her snout poked one of the air holes and she snapped dirty yellow fangs at him. And Nick could hear other mammals starting to yowl and roar around him, she was arousing them-

" _Hey! What's going on here?"_ barked a voice from the hallway outside.

Nick barely noticed the voice as a heaving wave of grief crashed through his gut. He felt like he was going to break down, right there, leaning against the glass that housed his now-insane mother.

Clawhauser frantically shook his shoulder, "Someone's coming, Nick – we gotta go!"

Nick didn't protest as Clawhauser grabbed him by the arm and led him past the row of savage mammals into the storeroom they had come in through, closing the door behind them just before more guards entered the cellblock.

* * *

Stunned beyond any other feeling he had felt that night, Nick said absolutely nothing as he and Clawhauser went down the mammalhole in the storeroom and started navigating the piping system underneath, using the same route he and Judy had taken to get in ten years before. Soon they emerged from the drain pipe embedded in the cliff outside and shimmied their way down, ghost-Clawhauser doing a better job than the real one ever could have managed. Finally they were back on solid ground right next to the institution, hidden in the shadows. Clawhauser peeped around the corner. _"Follow me!"_ he whispered.

Nick didn't even bother to point out that Clawhauser still didn't need to whisper anymore as the cheetah led him a few feet along the front of the building towards a parked grey van with the Cliffside logo on the side. There were two ram guards nearby but they were standing on the walkway, concentrating on the bridge and not the prison entrance; with a little careful maneuvering the cheetah and fox managed to sneak behind them outside of their peripheral vision and to the van without being seen. Without thinking Nick got in on the passenger's side, and only just realized ghosts shouldn't be able to drive before Clawhauser got in on the driver's side. The cheetah produced the set of keys he had used before, winked, and started the car.

" _Heeere_ we go!" Clawhauser yelled, and before the shellshocked fox could react, the ghost-cheetah pounded the gas and zoomed around the roundabout and down the lamplit bridge over the waterfall, narrowly avoiding the two guards who jumped into the water to escape the path of the vehicle.

"Incoming!" Clawhauser shouted at Nick. And the van drove right through the wooden tollgate at the end of the bridge with a loud _CRASH_ and started looping along the long, zig-zagging driveway. And after a tense minute they were through the ornate iron gates and on South Canyon Way back to the city.

"Sorry! Haven't driven in a while!" Clawhauser stated as he fumbled with the steering wheel.

But Nick had hardly even noticed the crash. It barely even surprised him now that some kind of solid ghost was driving this car and that in spite of the crash there seemed to be no cars pursuing them. All he could see in his mind's eye were the faces of the friends and family whose fates he had learned about in that horrible place. Finnick, Bogo, Clawhauser, the Ottertons, _his mother…_

Clawhauser looked at his friend consolingly. "I'm really, really sorry, Nick. I had to show you that."

"What… happened to her?" Nick croaked.

Clawhauser sighed in sympathy. "Your mom was the final catalyst in what became the predator collaring initiative. Mayor Lionheart managed to hide a few more victims until Bellwether decided it was time to expose everything, and so she targeted one of the most hated species in Zootopia: a fox."

Nick clapped a paw over his mouth. _"No…"_

"Yeah. They got your mom while she was out shopping, and she attacked… er, somebody out in a crowded street."

"A cop. Finnick said it was a cop," Nick mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah it was. The ZPD arrested her and Lionheart came forward and gave them a place to keep her until a cure could be found. Of course then everything came out and Lionheart was arrested, and when Bellwether took over she saw to it the people working on a cure were only doctors and scientists she chose, meaning…"

"… _Doug,_ " Nick snarled, remembering the yellow-clad ram who had manufactured the serum in the first place. Clawhauser nodded.

The pair drove on in silence for a few minutes, along South Canyon and then under Ficus Underpass and through Acacia Alley. Eventually Clawhauser pulled over and turned off the motor, and that was when Nick looked up and recognized where they were: back at the stone bridge where it had all started. Nick got out and wandered a few steps away, gazing hard at nothing.

"Again, I'm really sorry, Nick," Clawhauser said as he himself got out, "But don't you see now, how things have turned out without you? You've really had a wonderful life!"

"Benji…" Nick whispered, his back facing Clawhauser.

"Yes Nick?"

Nick turned and faced the cheetah, his eyes burning with a new flame: "Where's Judy?"


	5. Chapter 5: Judy

"Where's… Judy?" Clawhauser repeated.

"Yes, as in, where's my wife?" Nick asked firmly.

Clawhauser gulped loudly, suddenly looking extremely nervous. "You're really not going to like it, Nick. In fact, I was kind of hoping you'd start believing before she came up."

That was rich, considering everything else Nick had been put through that night. "What do you mean, I'm not gonna like it?" the fox asked, "Carrots never solved the missing mammals case, I get it. But she'd never just stand by and let all this happen. I have to know: is she alive, or dead?"

Clawhauser gulped again, and then spoke: "Without your help, she never found Emmitt Otterton and the other missing mammals. She never even got as far as the Mystic Springs club. After her forty-eight hours ran out Chief Bogo kept his word, and made her resign."

"So she just went back to Bunnyburrow?" Nick was almost relieved at the thought; at least she would be safe from the horrors of this Zootopia.

Clawhauser shook his head glumly. "She begged to keep her job, Nick. Pleaded. And when the chief wouldn't budge she took it up with City Hall, and Lionheart ordered Bogo to reinstate her. The chief eventually did, but he never gave her a case again."

Nick leaned in closer, his ears hanging on to every word. "Sooo… now?"

"She's an old meter maid, she never married."

Nick was almost indignant. " _Old_ meter maid? She's not even forty!" He shook his head, "I don't believe you! Being a meter maid didn't stop Carrots from trying to solve a case before and it won't now! Especially when there are so few good cops left!"

Clawhauser's face suddenly looking grimmer than Nick had ever seen it. "It gets worse," he muttered.

Nick was taken aback. "How could it possibly get worse?"

"That cop your mom attacked, when she went savage…"

"Yeah…?" Nick asked, realization suddenly sinking in.

"Judy was that cop."

Nick felt his heart drop into his stomach. " _NO…_ " he whispered.

"It traumatized her beyond anything," said Clawhauser, tears forming in his eyes. "She survived okay, but she was never the same after that, and she never left the city."

" _My mother attacked my mate…?"_ Nick mouthed, his brain struggling to process the very idea. His head was spinning and his body suddenly felt very heavy; he was sure he was going into shock. "And with her fear of foxes before she met me…" he remembered Judy telling him about her childhood experiences with Gideon Grey.

After a few minutes of struggling to compose himself, he turned and faced his guide. "So where is Judy now?"

"Well, I'm not sure you should-"

Suddenly feeling a fit of rage surge over him Nick jumped onto Clawhauser's chest and grabbed him by the lapels, staring furiously into the cheetah's eyes: "Where is my mate? WHERE IS SHE!?"

"She's about to ticket a car near the 10-7 bar!" Clawhauser sputtered.

Nick released his grip, jumped to the ground and made a beeline for the van. He turned the key and zoomed off, leaving Clawhauser standing alone at the bridge for the second time that night.

* * *

In the middle of Savannah Central on Oak Street, Judy Hopps printed a ticket and slapped it on a Hogda Accorn without any pretense of enthusiasm. It was her three-hundredth of the day, but the bunny didn't care. She barely even kept track anymore. Just another 14-hour day of checking cars, they were all the same to her. It was her life now.

Nick watched Judy from across the street, stunned at what he was seeing. It was Judy alright, but it could not have been further from the rabbit he married. She was dressed in her usual police uniform along with the familiar meter maid vest and hat, but all these clothes were so worn and faded they might have never been replaced in ten years. The rabbit looked older and more tired than Nick had ever seen her; her ears drooped lifelessly, she now wore homely glasses, and her eyes… her eyes lacked all traces of that spark of life Nick knew and loved. She now limped a bit too, and the thought of his own mother attacking Judy made the fox shiver all over again. He couldn't bear to watch another second, he had to talk to her.

"Judy!" he called.

The rabbit jumped at the sound of his voice, and her ears shot up and her eyes widened with fright as she saw him.

"Judy!" Nick called again, starting to stride towards her.

But the rabbit turned tail and started running, hindered by the limp in her step.

"Judy! JUDY!" Nick caught up with her and grabbed her by the arm. "Judy, it's Nick! Don't you know me, what's happened to us!?"

"I don't know you, let me _go!"_ Judy pleaded while struggling to free her arm. Nick frantically grabbed her other arm and stared into her face, begging her to recognize him.

"Oh no, please, not you too! Help me! Where's our kids, I NEED YOU JUDY!" He screamed in her face.

" _HEEEELP!"_

And the next thing Nick knew the world dissolved into blind agony as a canister of fox-away was sprayed directly into his eyes. Nick let go of Judy, clutching at his face.

Judy shrieked as she thrust him off her and retreated into the nearest open place, more frightened than any rabbit he had ever seen. Nick half-blindly pursued, and ducked under the arms of a black rhino only to realize where he was: the 10-7 bar.

The rhino bouncer grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air, and as Nick struggled he scanned around the large open room of the bar: officers, firefighters and EMTs of various sizes sat drinking and staring in his direction, some of them familiar and almost none of them predators. And to the right was the main bar, decorated with the usual flags and posters of mammals in uniform, where he saw Judy's trembling form being cradled by a familiar brown bunny with blue eyes, flanked by a painted dog with an artificial leg and a kangaroo officer holding a fancy glass of water.

"Trisha!" Nick pleaded, "Echo, Ramic, THAT'S MY WIFE!"

"SHRIEEEK!"

Judy screamed again and fainted in Trisha's arms.

" _Judy!"_ Nick cried as he struggled against the arms of the rhino trying to force him away from his wife.

" _You stay away from her!"_ Trisha warned.

"Somebody get a collar here!" an officer cried.

"Somebody call Cliffside!" another one ordered.

The sound of approaching sirens outside suddenly drowned Nick's ears as realization finally enveloped him.

"Benji!" He cried, "BENJI!"

But the cheetah didn't appear to him, and Nick was forcibly removed from the bar and tossed into the street, where he saw a familiar ram with an eyepatch get out of a van and stride in his direction.

"Knew the tracker in the van would lead me right to ya!" Jesse sneered.

And then in response Nick did something he had wanted to do since he first laid eyes on the buck sheep: he swung his leg up and kicked the ram between the legs as hard as he could. Jesse bleated in pain and fell to his knees, clutching his lower region.

And Nick took off running with all his might. "Stand back!" he heard Jesse's voice yell from behind him. There was a loud _pshoom_ sound and a tranquilizer dart flew past Nick's head. And he ducked and dodged two more as he raced down the street. _"Benji!"_ he called out.

Raw, icy horror like he had never felt before raced through Nick's veins as he fled through the streets, dodging frightened prey mammals and collared predators alike. Tears that had little to do with the effects of Judy's fox-away ran down his face. It had finally sunken in: this was no dream, this was no hallucination, it was all real. He truly had prevented all this from happening, and now he had ruined everything by wishing himself to be unborn. If he could just find Clawhauser, he could put it right, everything could go back to normal…

The bridge. Where it had all began, where he had left Clawhauser, that had to be the place…

He put on a further burst of speed, all but oblivious to the growing sounds of sirens behind him.

* * *

"BENJI!" Nick raced down the beaten path and onto the bridge with all the speed he could muster. Panting, he darted his head around, frantically searching for the cheetah, but there was nobody there. There were no signs anyone had been here, it might as well have been hours ago…

"Benji - CLAWHAUSER!"

But there no answer. He ran up to the edge of the bridge:

"Benji! I believe! I BELIEVE!" he screamed into the night.

But the only sound that answered him was police sirens in the nearby distance. The Cliffside guards were coming for him, he was about to be recaptured and locked away forever...

He turned back to the night sky, focusing with all his might on the stars gleaming overhead:

"Get me back, I don't care what happens to me!" Nick cried, "Please, get me back to my wife and kits! I want to live again!"

The Cliffside cavalry was imminent now, the sirens rang in his ears. In frantic desperation, Nick threw his head back and screamed up to the heavens with all the strength he could muster: "I WANT TO LIVE AGAIN!"

And then he buried his face in paws, not noticing as the world around him begin to swirl and dissolve into a mess of colors…

"I want to live again," he sobbed, "Please, Fitwick, let me live again…"

"Nick! NICK!"

And the next thing Nick knew he was lying on a very hard floor with a large paw slapping him awake. He opened his eyes, and looked up into the concerned face of none other than the real Martin Fitwick.

* * *

 **A/N: Trisha, Echo and the 10-7 bar belong to Bluelighthouse. Ramic belongs to Cimar.**


	6. Chapter 6: A Wonderful Life

"F- _Fitwick…?"_ Nick whispered.

"You alright, Nick?" the black panther asked, "Boy, you just screamed so much you fell out of the chair!"

Nick blinked and looked over at the P.I.X.A.R. machine, its twin chairs and screen sitting there looking as innocuous as ever. His eyes flicked around, taking in the familiar machines and decorations of the arcade, which barely hours ago he had seen as a diner. "That… that wasn't real?"

"Nope!" Fitwick declared. "Boy, I've seen some strong reactions to that scenario before, but never like this! You must have made a bigger difference than you ever thought!"

The panther helped the groggy fox to his feet. Nick rubbed the back of his head for a moment, shaking the cobwebs out of his brain, and then with a sudden burst of energy he ran to the window and yanked open the blinds. There were decorations covering the lampposts and shop windows outside again. The sounds of church bells rang in the distance, and carolers and mammals of all species, sizes and classes mingled happily on the sidewalk as they went about their business, going to parties or coming from church or finishing the last of their Christmas shopping.

The corners of Nick's mouth curved upwards into a wide smile: there were no segregated crowds, no shops selling fox-away, no predators wearing collars… That simulation hadn't been real after all, but its message could not have been more clear.

Feeling his heart starting to fill with joy and Christmas cheer Nick turned to Fitwick:

"Fitwick, WHADDAYA KNOW ABOUT THAT!" And he jumped up and hugged the panther tightly, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

"And a Merry Christmas to you!" a smiling Fitwick called back as Nick dashed out of the arcade.

"Judy! JUDY!" Nick cried as he ran through the streets of Savannah Central, not giving a hoot about how he looked to onlookers. He was so excited and happy that he felt if he didn't run he was going to burst.

"Merry Christmas!" he shouted at a gazelle couple across the street, not knowing or caring who they were.

" _Merry Christmas!"_ they called back in unison. Nick laughed giddily. He raced through the streets back to his apartment, his _family_ , shouting Christmas greetings at every familiar landmark he passed along his way: Otterton's florist shop, the 10-7 bar, _Finnick's van-_

He raced up to Finnick's Z1 Lobos van and started rapping on the door with both paws.

" _Heeeyyy,_ Merry Christmas, Finnick!" he yelled at the door.

" _And a happy new year to you, now git!"_ grumbled the fennec from inside the van.

Nick laughed again and quickly left before Finnick emerged with his baseball bat. Then after running two more blocks he saw it in the distance: the ornate and beautiful building that was Precinct One. Quickly changing course Nick skipped across the courtyard and up the steps of the police station. _Please let them be there, please let them be there…_

Nick burst through the revolving door and there he saw him, standing at the desk: vast as ever and looking like he was packing up to go home, was the real Benjamin Clawhauser.

"Benji!" Nick cried. And before the bewildered cheetah could react Nick leapt on the desk and hugged the cheetah around the neck with all his might. "Oh, Clawhauser, I'm so glad you're alive!"

"Thanks! Uh, wait, was I dead?" Clawhauser asked in confusion.

"So I thought, but apparently it was just a dream!" Nick laughed, "I'll tell you all about it sometime, but right now I have to see-"

"Wilde?"

Nick's heart for the first time gave a leap at the sound of that familiar baritone voice. He looked to his right and saw Chief Bogo standing at the desk, carrying a stack of case files and looking like he too was leaving.

" _Chief!_ Chief Bogo, am I happy to see you too!" And with a start he released Clawhauser and grabbed the baffled buffalo's free hoof, shaking it vigorously in his paws. "You take care of that blood pressure, ya hear?" he requested, lightly patting Bogo's chest, "Because a security guard uniform does _not_ suit you!"

The chief looked more stunned than Nick had ever seen him. "Wilde, concerning the matter of your suspension…"

"Yeah, I know, I'm fired! Isn't it wonderful? I'm out of a job!" Without a care in the world Nick leapt off the desk and strode over to the door, "I'd love to talk about it later, but right now I gotta go see my family! Merry Christmas you two wonderful officers! And Chief, I take back every time I ever called you Chief Buffalo-Butt!"

"Uh, thank you, Wilde, that's…" And then a look of realization spread over Bogo's face as Nick left, and he turned to Clawhauser. "When has he ever called me 'Buffalo-Butt'?"

" _Err…"_ Clawhauser started, rubbing his paw together nervously.

* * *

Judy! JUDY!" Nick burst through the door of his apartment, breathless and sweaty but exhilarated. Everything was in place – the furniture, the pictures…

"Nicky? Is that you?" a vixen in her sixties emerged from the hallway.

"MOM!" Nick shouted. And before the vixen could react Nick ran over and scooped his mother up in the tightest hug he could remember giving her. He buried his muzzle in her shoulder, breathing in her scent. She was _here_ , she wasn't savage…

"Nicky, dear, what's come over you?" his stunned mother asked. "Are you alright? You were gone for hours!"

"I'm alright, Mom! Only just had one of the most important experiences I ever had!" Nick declared. "But never mind that, where's Judy? Where are the kits?"

" _Daddy!"_ chanted two little voices from the hallway entrance: Ridley and Ella were running towards him, looking positively adorable in their reindeer and snowmammal-patterned holiday pajamas.

" _KIDS!"_

And with the speed of lightning Nick leapt over and scooped the little fox and bunny kits in his arms, hugging them tight to his chest and planting little kisses on their heads.

"Where have you been, Daddy? We've been worried!" Ella asked.

"Oh, just having little adventure!" Nick answered with a wink.

"Is it Christmas yet, Dad? Can we open our presents?" Ridley asked.

Nick chuckled. "I'm afraid it's only ten o'clock, you'll have to wait 'til morning or Santa won't come!" He embraced his children harder, not wanting to ever let them go. "Where's your mother? Is she here?"

"You looking for me?"

Nick jerked his head up and gasped: leaning up against the hallway entrance, also dressed in holiday pajamas and clearly enjoying the tender scene before her, was Judy.

"JUDY!"

And at long last Nick finally embraced his mate. His _real_ mate. Not the frightened shell of her he had seen in the P.I.X.A.R. machine. He breathed in her scent, listened to her breathing and felt every inch he could of her back and head with his paws.

"Oh, Carrots, are you real?" he whispered.

"'Real'? That must have some P.I.X.A.R. experience you had," Judy replied.

Nick gave a little start. "Oh, you knew about that?"

Judy nodded. "I called the arcade. Fitwick didn't confirm or deny you were there, which told me you were there."

"Then wait until you hear about the experience I had!" Nick affirmed.

"I can't wait for that, but right now you have to see THIS!" Judy declared, thrusting her phone at Nick. Nick looked: it was Critter replies from the tweet Brock Blackwood had posted that day, only now they had taken on a completely different tone than Nick remembered reading at the precinct, complete with a new hashtag. Nick's eyes widened and his heart gave a rush as he read the messages:

 _Last year my store got robbed, and Officer Wilde and Hopps caught the thief within a day. If Wildes a dirty cop I'm a snail. #GoodFoxCop_

 _When I got mugged, it was Officer Wilde who comforted me. He put a blanket around me and made me laugh with a few bad jokes. I believe in him. #GoodFoxCop_

 _My son wants to be a cop b/c of Officer Wilde. The best fox role model since Robin Hood IMO #GoodFoxCop_

The next one made his heart give an even bigger leap, for the account attached to it was Otterton's Florist Shop:

 _IF IT WASN'T FOR WILDE AND HOPPS MY HUSBAND MIGHT STILL BE SAVAGE. #GoodFoxCop._

The memory of Mrs. Otterton visiting a savage Emmitt in Cliffside overwhelmed Nick so much he couldn't read anymore and he launched his arms around his wife again, planting kisses all over her face and caressing her head and ears some more as if still trying to make sure she was real.

"One more, Nick!" Judy reluctantly broke the embrace, "One more tweet, _look!"_

Nick stared at the screen: he recognized the profile picture as Brock Blackwood's, but the tweet attached was one he had never thought he would see:

 _After careful recollection I've realized I was mistaken about the identity of the fox who robbed me. It was not Officer Wilde, it might not have even been a red fox. I sincerely apologize to him and his family._

Nick couldn't believe it. "What? How did…?" he stammered at his wife, his jaw dropping.

"Well, now isn't that a Christmas miracle?" Judy asked in her most sly tone. "Oh, and I showed it to the chief, and he said you can consider your suspension… suspended."

Nick stammered a little more, and then decided the story could wait as he laughed and hugged his wife again, and this time Ellaine and a slightly confused Ella and Ridley all joined in.

* * *

Christmas morning the next day was peaceful and quiet, until roughly six am when the whoops and squeals of two little kits rushing to the tree to open their Christmas presents began.

And two hours after that, watching Ridley and Ella play with their new toys, Nick and Judy sat together in their favourite chair, Judy in Nick's lap and the pair flicking through the Critter feed on their iPad. There were still some anti-fox comments of course, even after Blackwood had posted his retraction, but the vast majority of the tweets were still singing Nick's praises, and Judy's as well. Meanwhile, Nick filled Judy in on everything he remembered of his P.I.X.A.R experience the previous night.

"Wow, that was some simulation," Judy said, "Too bad it was so unrealistic."

"In hindsight, yeah," Nick agreed, "Ghost Clawhauser, those collars, the odds Bellwether would just happen to target my mother..."

"No no no," Judy responded, "I mean, what are the chances of me actually giving up trying to make the world a better place?"

Nick smirked fondly at his wife, "About infinity minus one?"

"Give or take." Judy smiled at the answer.

Nick smiled too. "So tell me: how _did_ you get Blackwood to change the tune on his Critter feed?"

Judy chuckled smugly, then answered: "Yesterday after you ran off, I went to Tundratown and started doing some investigating. First I went around to different casinos and asked about Blackwood with no luck, and then it hit me! Camera footage!"

A light flicked on in Nick's head. " _Ahhh_ , so you looked at the traffic cams and found footage of him doing something incriminating?"

"Nope; the traffic cameras were too covered with snow. But I _did_ go back to the bank we met him at, and lo and behold, they had ATM footage of Brock Blackwood assaulting and robbing a cop. And then after looking him up in the system I visited him at his apartment, and showed it right to his face. I agreed to let him off, in exchange for a small retraction on his Critter feed."

Nick was a little skeptical. "And that belligerent badger agreed? Just like that?"

Judy flashed him an evil grin. "Oh… let's just say I showed him how scary a dumb little bunny can be."

Nick shivered a little, having been at the receiving end of scary-Judy himself more than a few times.

Then a rapping came from the front door. "Knock knock! Anyone home?" Ellaine called out as she let herself in, carrying a tin of cookies in one arm and a bag of presents in her other paw.

" _Grandma!"_ Ridley and Ella cried in unison, and the little fox and rabbit eagerly scurried over to 'help' Ellaine with the load she was carrying.

"Morning Ellaine, Merry Christmas!" Judy greeted the vixen with a warm hug.

"Merry Christmas to you too Dear," Ellaine reciprocated.

"Great to see you, Mom," said Nick as he joined in. And the three shared a brief moment while Ridley and Ella started sampling the cookies their grandmother had brought.

"Oh! Here, Nicky," Ellaine handed Nick a white envelope, "Your doorman gave me this."

"Oh? Who sent it?" Nick asked.

"He said a black panther left it early this morning."

"Black pa—" realization hit Nick as he ripped the envelope open. There were two things inside: a folded piece of paper and a pocket flash drive. Nick flipped the paper open and read the note on it:

 _Dear Nick,_

 _Just something for you in case you ever feel like you're losing your way again._

 _Merry Christmas to you, and Officer Hopps too!_

 _Martin Fitwick_

Nick turned the flash drive over in his paw, realizing it was a copy of last night's simulation for him to rewatch any time he wanted. He and Judy had a collection of other drives from the arcade just like it, but he had a feeling this particular experience was going to have a special place among them.

And right then and there, surrounded by his wife and his mother and kits and not caring if they saw him or not, Nick felt his eyes begin to burn with fresh tears. He had done it, he really had made a difference.

He really did have a wonderful life.

* * *

 **A/N: Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and days of Auld Lang Syne? :D**

 **To all of you readers, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and hope this little story adds to your holiday spirit! It was a great pleasure to write, and I give deepest thanks to Cimar for making it all possible.**


	7. Chapter 7: Bonus Tweets

**A/N: This little bonus chapter was written for Cimar's delightful new project "The Fluff Files". Hope you enjoy these extra tweets!**

* * *

"Here you go, Nick!" Judy said as she opened the cruiser door and held a Snarlbucks cup up to her mate in the passengers' seat, "One latte extra-strong, just the way you like it!"

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm," Nick mumbled, scrolling on his phone and staring intently at the screen.

A quick glance at his phone confirmed what Judy was already sure he was looking at. "Nick, it's after New Years. Haven't you gotten tired of reading those Critter replies yet?"

"I can't help it, Carrots – it just warms my heart so."

"Stokes your ego, you mean," Judy deadpanned.

Nick shrugged. "You say tom-ayto, I say tom-ahto."

It had been two weeks since that fateful Christmas eve when an old enemy from Nick's past had posted a message on Critter that threatened to end Nick's career, and the fox had gone on an adventure in the P.I.X.A.R. machine to see what Zootopia would be like had he never been born. Fortunately during that time Judy had found evidence that saved Nick, and there had been an unexpected outcry from the public in the form of tweets about their own near-unanimously positive experiences with Officer Nick Wilde, complete with the hashtag _#GoodFoxCop_. Nick had spent much time in the following weeks rereading his favorites.

Nick patted the seat next to him, "Come on, we got a few minutes of break left. Wanna finish it by reading some of our greatest hits?"

Judy thought about it for a second, and then she climbed in onto Nick's seat, set the coffee in the cup holder and snuggled next to her mate. Nick held up his phone so they could both read what was on the screen:

 _As a fox, the neighbors in my building used to avoid me. But since Wilde became a cop they've started opening the door for me. Coincidence? I think not. #GoodFoxCop_

 _Two years ago my house was broken into, and the WildeHopps team not only found my stolen things but gave me some great tips for improving my home security. Wilde's no thief, he makes me feel safer. #GoodFoxCop_

The next tweet had a picture of a very attractive vixen attached to the profile:

 _I could stare at a picture of Officer Wilde for hours. He is SOOO handsome, with those beautiful eyes, and that gorgeous tail that I just want to-_

"Hehe, how did that one get in there?" Nick chuckled weakly as he quickly swipe-deleted the tweet before Judy could read further. The rabbit rolled her eyes.

 _My son was wrongfully arrested, and Wilde and Hopps cleared him. If Wilde is a dirty cop I'll take two. #GoodFoxCop_

 _LIAR! I've followed Officer Wilde in the news for years, and I'm convinced of his honesty. #GoodFoxCop_

 _I used to be afraid of foxes, but since reading about officer Wilde's exploits I've realized I was wrong, and am now good friends with one. #GoodFoxCop_

 _I was one of the night howler victims - Officer Wilde saved my life. I will stand behind him no matter what. #GoodFoxCop_

After a few more tweets Judy looked at the time: "It's two o'clock. Are we nearly done here?"

"Just one more," Nick replied, "And frankly, this is one I would like to have printed and framed on my wall."

Judy looked at the screen again, and smiled as she recognized the message, for the picture attached to the profile was her own:

 _In the years I have known Nick Wilde, I have come to think of him as the greatest mammal I have ever met. He is a wonderful officer, husband and father, and living proof that it is never too late to turn one's life around. I believe in him, always. #GoodFoxCop_

"It's true, you know," Judy said, blinking away a tear.

"Yep, I know," Nick concurred, smiling broadly, "I know I'm the greatest mammal you've ever met."

" _Ohh!"_ Judy gave the laughing fox a playful push on the shoulder, then climbed over into the driver's seat. "What do you say, Slick? Ready to continue making the world a better place for foxes everywhere?"

Nick tucked away his phone, and flipped on his shades. "Always, Carrots."


End file.
